Central IL leaders weigh pros and cons of license plate data amid state concerns

ILLINOIS (WCIA) — The nation’s largest automatic license plate reader company has shut off access to federal agencies after an audit revealed they may have illegally accessed data. Now, Illinois officials are considering next steps for the technology.

“The reality is that we are dealing with powerful surveillance technology, and it has been abused,” Illinois’ Secretary of State, Alexi Giannoulias, said.

Giannoulias’ office said that Flock Safety allowed the United States Customs and Border Patrol to access Illinois license plate cameras on Illinois roads, which violates the Trust Act. These cameras are all over Central Illinois.

“We encourage local law enforcement to closely examine their relationship with Flock and ensure their use of this technology is compliant with the law,” Giannoulias said.

His office found the company did not have the correct safeguards in place for data sharing, violating Illinois law.

“Two years ago, our office championed legislation that ensures that your license plate data does not get shared with out of state law enforcement agencies for abortion or immigration purposes,” Giannoulias said.

And that’s exactly what he says happened. Flock was immediately ordered to cut off access to Illinois data and other states have followed suit.

“This was compounded by the fact that company leadership was unaware of a pilot program with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Protection Agency,” Giannoulias added.

While this is happening, a local police department is focusing on the benefits they’ve seen with Flock Safety.

Rantoul uses the cameras as an investigative tool.

“They’ve been instrumental in solving several cases,” Rantoul Deputy Chief, Rodney Sullivan, said.

The department got the cameras in 2021.

“They’ve been used in homicide investigations and most recently a hit and run that occurred outside the high school,” Sullivan added.

He said that they’re in compliance with all state laws, especially with Flock Safety. And Rantoul isn’t the only city with these cameras. Decatur has benefited from them as well.

“The flock camera system is a highly effective tool,” Decatur City Council member, David Horn, said.

However, Giannoulias’ recent discovery is not lost on them.

“Concern arises when a vendor does not follow the terms of an agreement that it makes, or is not in compliance with the law,” Horn said.

Since Decatur and Rantoul are in compliance, they still see the good coming from the cameras catching criminals.

“The success that they have provided us is worth us maintaining our relationship with flock,” Sullivan said.

Flock Safety’s CEO, Garrett Langley, said that they do have limited pilots with U.S. Customs and Homeland Security investigations. However, they don’t have any contractual relationships.
Langley also said that the pilots were designed to assist in reducing human trafficking and fentanyl distribution. Now, all federal pilots have been paused.