SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — Springfield Police Chief Jamie Resh addressed community concerns on Thursday about the deployment and regulation of Flock Cameras, also known as License Plate Readers (LPR). During the meeting, officials confirmed that the cameras are currently turned off and not gathering data. The cameras will remain inactive while community outreach about their use is conducted.
The City of Springfield has installed 25 Flock Cameras, which are designed to capture still photos of license plates for police use. These cameras can assist in amber alerts, missing persons cases, and stolen vehicle investigations, but they are not intended to function as red light cameras. The system is AI-based, and while some LPR cameras can identify individuals by clothing, these are designed solely to capture license plate tags.
The decision to purchase the cameras and subsequently turn them off was driven by the need to utilize grant funding before it expired. The equipment is leased from the company, and if the cameras are not utilized, the company will reclaim them. As of now, there is no timeline for when the cameras will be activated…