By rssfeeds-admin 
During Tuesday’s Columbus Council meeting, resident Matthew Gilbert voiced opposition to the city’s partnership with Flock Safety — an Atlanta-based company that provides police departments with real-time license plate reading technology.
“I say that outsourcing police work to private companies who are for the most part data retention companies and data brokers is lazy police work and results in loss of freedoms for the citizens,” Gilbert told council members.
Columbus Police Chief Stoney Mathis acknowledged the privacy concerns but defended the technology, saying it has played a vital role in recent arrests.
Mathis cited two high-profile cases where Flock camera data led to quick arrests — a rape case involving a Columbus State University student in a downtown parking deck, and a deadly home invasion in the Brookstone neighborhood.
“I understand the concern because I feel the same way — big brother watching,” Mathis said. “However, from where I stand right now, solving a murder or solving a rape — and somebody being upset that their tag’s been exposed to a camera — doesn’t weigh out.”
Gilbert argued the funds spent on Flock could have gone toward traditional policing efforts.
“12,000 police hours could have been bought with the same money that we spent on Flock,” he said. “That could have been so much more effective at policing our crime-ridden city than surveillance cameras of 1984.”
Mathis stood by the system, saying, “They’re being used all over the country to solve crime. And as long as we’re using those to solve crime, there’s not going to be a problem with it.”
The city purchased about 100 Flock cameras with a $1.6 million state grant.
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