Four former police employees arrested over alleged misuse of Flock license plate cameras

[midian182]

A hot potato: It's another day, another Flock-related controversy. This time, four people have been arrested over alleged misuse of the company's cameras, all of whom are former police department employees, adding to growing concerns over how law enforcement agencies are accessing and using the surveillance network.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced last Friday that three former Savannah Police Department officers and one former civilian staff member have been arrested over accusations they accessed the Flock Safety system for non-law-enforcement purposes.

The three former officers were charged with two counts each of misuse of a license plate reader system and one count of violation of oath of office. All three were employed as police officers at the time of the offenses.

The civilian staff member, a Community Service Specialist at the time, was charged with two counts of misuse of a license plate reader system.

Ironically, CBS News writes that the arrests came just days after a North Georgia sheriff offered a $1,000 reward for information about a vandalized Flock Safety camera.

Following an internal audit by Savannah police that noticed the behavior, the department investigated further, dismissed those involved, and handed the case to the GBI.

The abuse of Flock license plate cameras by law enforcement has been under the spotlight for weeks now. At the beginning of August, it was reported that a growing number of police officers were using license-plate reader systems to track women they knew personally.

The main tool being misused was Flock Safety, a network of roadside cameras that scan and catalog billions of license plates each month.

The fact that there have been a significant number of false-positives, the cameras being used to associate vehicles with users' phones, and the company's biggest investor also investsing in a firm that can manipulate camera footage haven't helped Flock's already bad image. It's little wonder that Sith Lord Darth Vader and his master The Emperor are fans.

If all that isn't making Flock look like some kind of real-world Weyland-Yutani, it was recently reported that the company's fastest-growing business is its 60 mph police drones that can read license plates from up to 2,000 feet away.

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Four former police employees arrested over alleged misuse of Flock license plate cameras

 

[The Talking Tech]

You would think a Police Officer would know better.

Once again this falls on how poorly their chiefs of police are doing their jobs.

We need supervisors to actually supervise.

 

[stewi0001]

Rob, I would adjust the subtitle to:
"Flock has few supporters and Darth Vader is apparently one of them"

 

[wiyosaya]

You would think a Police Officer would know better.

I suppose this would depend on whether the PO has a good sense of ethics and at least some integrity.

Once again this falls on how poorly their chiefs of police are doing their jobs.

PDs need rules as to what is appropriate use of this kind of data.

We need supervisors to actually supervise.

And those rules need to be strictly enforced. IMO, inappropriate use of this type of data should be an offense that results in termination of anyone who violates the rules.

 

[Hexic]

We are very early in the game here. If you ignore the media hyping this issue up and actually look at this from a lense of reality - as soon as accountability is solidified over the use of this system (which should’ve been tackled prior to the launch, but I digress) and they can improve the technology to reduce false positives/negatives (which they’re already doing now), this will just be another LE tool to get used to.

The logic of, “There are a very, very small group of bad actors, so let’s torch the whole system entirely!” is a childish, short-sighted knee-jerk reaction.

Tighten up the protocols and start firing mofos who abuse it, and we’ll all be alright.

 

[NumberNine]

The cameras certainly don't exist to improve your life, that's for sure. There are lots of talking points about what they could do to benefit public safety, but that's not quite how they're used in reality, is it?

 

[RudyBob]

In a Hollywood movie this would be a good thing

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

What's ironic is the article is complaining about the tool, but the tool is what allows police departments to eliminate corruption in law enforcement. Even better, those individuals were sent to jail.

So it's the law enforcement policies that may need to improve, though this article is an example that shows at least some police departments have policies to stop this kind of behavior. There was a policy that said its police officers couldn't abuse the tool (hence they were fired when caught), and there was a policy to catch officers who did not follow the policy (an internal audit). That said, internal audits should be used to lead to additional policy refinement and probably not be the primary enforcement mechanism.

Anyways, Savannah PD makes its policies public and lets the public see its query history: https://transparency.flocksafety.com/savannah-ga-pd

Considering Savannah PD has over 500 officers and almost 1200 ALPR total queries a month, it shows that most officers are using the Flock camera network sparingly with around 2 queries per officer each month.

 

[pnntmp]

Actually Flock has many thousands of supporters in all the communities where it drastically reduced crime rates.
The vast majority of the people living in Flock -protected communities want to have the protection.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

The cameras certainly don't exist to improve your life, that's for sure. There are lots of talking points about what they could do to benefit public safety, but that's not quite how they're used in reality, is it?

The top 3 Flock camera search reasons cited by Savannah PD public audits in the last month are the following:
- Weapons Offense - Guns/Shots Fired (183 queries)
- Motor Vehicle Theft/Stolen (152 queries)
- Wanted Person - Arrest Warrant/Fugitive (119 queries)
Are you suggesting that stopping fugitives, people who fired weapons, and recovering stolen vehicles is not improving citizens lives? Unlike your suggestion (which has no proof behind it), this is how the system is being used in reality: https://transparency.flocksafety.com/savannah-ga-pd

Here's all the queries performed 10 or more times by the Savannah PD (there are a few not shown with multiple reasons provided for a single query, hence the discrepancy with above):

 

[Au Contraire]

The top 3 Flock camera search reasons cited by Savannah PD public audits in the last month are the following:
- Weapons Offense - Guns/Shots Fired (183 queries)
- Motor Vehicle Theft/Stolen (152 queries)
- Wanted Person - Arrest Warrant/Fugitive (119 queries)
Are you suggesting that stopping fugitives, people who fired weapons, and recovering stolen vehicles is not improving citizens lives? Unlike your suggestion (which has no proof behind it), this is how the system is being used in reality: https://transparency.flocksafety.com/savannah-ga-pd

Here's all the queries performed 10 or more times by the Savannah PD (there are a few at the bottom with multiple reasons provided for a single query, hence the discrepancy with above):

Please clarify how an "Alcohol Offense/non-DUI" can be identified using cameras that record license plates. Perhaps the reported ability to scan cellphones adds this tracking mechanism?