It didn’t take long for Gardner to decide to stop using its Flock Safety cameras early after residents started raising concerns about the technology and its potential privacy implications.
The devices in question are a type of Automated License Plate Reader, or ALPR. These camera systems capture license plate information from passing vehicles, compare it immediately against a “hot list” of vehicles of interest, and can store it for investigative purposes for a set period of time or indefinitely.
These devices, used primarily by police departments and law enforcement agencies, can be made mobile by attaching them to patrol vehicles or be more permanently located on stoplights, overpasses and streetlights. Multiple vendors make these cameras, like Genetec, Motorola and Flock Safety, and cities across Johnson County have used them for years.
Local departments set their own rules on ALPRs
In the absence of comprehensive state or federal laws, police departments and law enforcement agencies are largely left on their own…