The police chief in New Mexico’s second-largest city attempted this week to allay lawmaker fears about one of the most controversial tools in law enforcement: Flock cameras.
But by the end of the presentation, some still had big questions and concerns about the technology Democratic-majority Legislature and governor opted to restrict earlier this year.
Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story told lawmakers on the interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee on Tuesday that his department has access to 43 Flock cameras across the city. They’ve helped detectives close several cases, he said, including several homicides and a bank robbery across the state line in El Paso, Texas.
“If we have a missing person, if we have one picture of that car — even if it has nothing to do with when that person went missing — a lot of times that’s very helpful,” Story said. “When we have a crime where we have either a partial plate or a good vehicle description, that’s where this system becomes very valuable for law enforcement.”…