Flock Camera Debate

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO) — Concerns have been brought up by Hoosiers all over Indiana about the safety of Flock cameras and whether or not they appropriately balance privacy protections with transparency and public trust.

Flock Cameras are an AI driven resource for law enforcement that helps with vehicle identification.

The City of Bloomington was utilizing Flock LPR services, but the city’s contract with Flock LPR recently expired. Leaders in Bloomington chose not to renew their contract with Flock LPR.

Bloomington Police Chief Mike Diekhoff spoke at a Bloomington Council meeting this week about the benefits of using Flock cameras.

“When used responsibly, it contributes to solving serious crimes in our community. We’ve built in meaningful safeguards. We have strong policies, strong training, strong audits and we also restrict sharing. What LPR captures is still a photo of the rear vehicle and its license plate as it travels on a public road. A photo and timestamp. That’s it. Nothing more,” said Diekhoff.

Those comments, however, were greeted with skepticism by some people in the meeting. One of those individuals expressing concern over the program was Council Member Dave Rollo.

“Your department finds it a useful tool — no doubt. My fear is, where does it stop?”, Rollo argued.

Other citizens at the council meeting argued that the city will replace Flock cameras with other companies that collect similar kinds of data. Some people held up replica cameras in a slient protest.

Diekhoff offered a counterpoint to that.

“I would bet that probably every person in this room has a cellphone, and the information that that cellphone captures is way more than a Flock camera. That being said, we don’t have access to everyone’s cellphones,” said Diekhoff.

In Evansville, there is a group of people called Deflock Evansville. They are protesting the number of flock cameras being installed across the city. They’ve been visiting with Evansville Council members and police officers. While they understand that the cameras are used to catch criminals, they argue that it’s not fair to say that only criminals care about civil liberties and privacy.

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