Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson and Governor Mike DeWine are defending the use of Flock cameras by local governments as scrutiny of the surveillance technology continues.
The comments come as some Ohio cities consider stepping away from Flock cameras and questions grow about how law enforcement agencies use the system.
DeWine said Flock is a tool used by law enforcement every day and has helped officers locate people who otherwise may not have been caught.
“There can be abuses,” he said. “When there are abuses, we need to take action. It’s the same way with running a record check. Every once in a while, when I was attorney general, we would see somebody who was in law enforcement who was running a record check for non-good reasons. They were running it because of personal interest and that’s illegal, so just because a tool is abused does not mean that the tool is not an effective tool.”
Wilson also said any abuse of power needs to be held accountable. He said Flock cameras have helped police save abducted children, locate lost adults, and identify homicide suspects.
“If you talk to law enforcement officers, detectives, they’ll tell you again and again this is the most effective tool for solving crime and actually a lot of times preventing harm or death that they’ve seen in their career,” Wilson said.
Flock cameras use automated license plate readers to capture images of vehicles and license plate information. Law enforcement agencies can use the information as part of criminal investigations.
The issue is also drawing attention from candidates seeking to replace Wilson as attorney general. State Auditor Keith Faber said he has concerns about privacy but also wants law enforcement to have tools to solve crimes.
“As a civil libertarian, I am somebody who is concerned about Big Brother,” Faber said. “But in the end, we want to make sure that the law enforcement has the tools to solve crimes.”
Faber said there is a difference between using Flock to identify the location of a specific vehicle at a specific time and using the technology to create a broader record of someone’s movements.
Upper Arlington Attorney John Kulewicz supports continued use of Flock cameras, as long as the public can obtain records and data showing how police are using the system.
Meanwhile, Flock Safety has announced changes to its system following the increased scrutiny.
Beginning January 1st, law enforcement users will be required to connect searches to a criminal case number.
Flock will also add additional monitoring of searches and may restrict access when unusual activity is detected.
The company is also reducing the default data retention period from 30 days to seven days.
The changes affect how law enforcement agencies access and retain information collected by Flock cameras.
