‘Modern-day policing’: How flock cameras are used in local policing

Some community members are voicing concern over privacy, while agencies on both sides of the river say it's used for criminal purposes only.

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‘Modern-day policing’: Local law enforcement share their work with flock cameras

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa —

As technology continues to advance, law enforcement leans into Flock cameras to lighten the load on officers.

Local agencies said the cameras are “instrumental” tools in catching bad guys, but critics say it tracks everyone’s movements without permission.

Law enforcement said they use Flock cameras to scan license plates on public roadways. Flock refers to the company that produces them.

But some community members are voicing concern over privacy, while agencies on both sides of the river say it’s used for criminal purposes only.

“We had a double homicide in our city about a year and a half ago, and the Flock cameras were instrumental in identifying individuals and putting timelines together and providing crucial investigative information,” Council Bluffs Police Chief Matt Davis said.

The Flock Camera Transparency Portal shows, as of this month, there are nearly 37 Flock cameras around Council Bluffs and more than 20 in Douglas County.

The portal for both agencies shows a detailed view of the camera use, such as which law enforcement agencies they share information with, as well as the number of searches, cars detected, and top offenses.

Davis said the purpose is to, “Search records for stolen vehicles, missing persons, and then also record that vehicle in that license plate being at that place in that time.”

Davis said the department deletes footage after 30 days; the same policy applies across the river at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

“99.97% of the data ingested by license plate reader cameras in Douglas County year-to-date has been auto deleted every 30 days,” Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson said.

Hanson said the other .03 percent data in Douglas County has helped to catch criminals.

In March 20-25, this series of Flock cameras captured Dale Woita’s license plate. He was convicted of attempted robbery at a Hy-Vee gas station while wearing a surgical mask.

“Regardless of the platform, it’s a reality of modern-day policing,” Hanson said.

But modern-day policing comes with guardrails.

ACLU of Nebraska is against the cameras and said, “Any surveillance technology involves fundamental privacy concerns and introduces the possibility of misuse and abuse.”

Hanson said while this has not happened in Douglas County, the department would conduct both criminal and internal investigations.

In Council Bluffs, “any time an officer runs an inquiry in the Flock system or other ALPR [Automated License Plate Reader] systems, they have to log who’s running it, for what purpose they’re running it,” Davis said. “So, you’re always able to go back and follow up reactively.”

Flock Safety said in a statement to KETV, “Agencies own and control their data, access is limited to authorized users, every search requires a documented reason, and each search creates a permanent audit trail.”

Hanson said DCSO audits the usage every 30 days, and CBPD said it conducts standard audits and spot checks to ensure proper use.

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