Port Huron City Manager James Freed issued a directive ordering the Port Huron Police Department to only use Flock Safety automatic license plate readers “in a manner that advances legitimate public-safety objectives.”
Freed also wrote in the directive, sent to Port Huron Police Chief Brian Kerrigan on Thursday, Aug. 13, that he would introduce a new ordinance declaring misuse of a Flock camera to be a misdemeanor punishable with up to 90 days in jail.
The proclamation came the same day Flock Safety announced new measures to detect and punish misuse of their cameras by law enforcement.
Automatic license plate readers have been increasingly at the center of controversy in several communities as residents raise concerns about privacy, and of officers misusing them to track people for purposes other than law enforcement. Much of that controversy has focused on Flock Safety.
Flock has an estimated 120,000 cameras in 49 states. Through the cameras law enforcement can track cars by make, model and/or license plate number to find a vehicle suspected of being involved with a crime.
Since the cameras were implemented, however, there have occasions where officers used the cameras for purposes other than public safety. In Florida a Haines City Police Department officer was arrested after an internal investigation found he used Flock cameras to track his estranged wife’s license plate more than 700 times over a two-year period.
Freed said there has not been any issue with the Port Huron Police Department misusing cameras, but he made the proclamation after hearing members of the public raise concerns about automatic license plate readers.
“Whether its Flock or the Law Enforcement Information Network, these types of law enforcement tools aren’t new, but its important that we have auditing to make sure they’re used correctly and protect civil liberties,” Freed said.
DeFlock, a website that tracks and maps Flock cameras, estimates there are about 22 cameras in or near Port Huron. It’s maps shows Marysville has five cameras and St. Clair has four.
Marine City previously contracted with Flock Safety, but ended its contract in 2023. Marine City Police Chief Jim Heaslip said at the time the cameras gave the department too many false positives
“The City recognizes that this technology can help officers perform public safety operations, including locating stolen vehicles, endangered persons, and dangerous individuals,” Freed wrote in his directive to police. “The same technology, however, can become a threat to civil liberties if it is used to assemble or search a broad record of citizens’ movements without meaningful regulations and oversight.”
Among the legitimate law enforcement uses for Flock Safety cameras listed in Freed’s directive are:
For Flock’s parts, new measures to prevent misuse include requiring officers to list the case code of the case they are working on, and requiring law enforcement offices to use its audit assistance, a previously optional tool that flags suspicious searches by officers.
Data from Flock cameras will be retained for seven days rather than the previous 30 days. Cases that need more time can collect older data under “evidence mode.”
Freed’s directive also calls for the police department to create a quarterly report that shows how many Flock searches were conducted during the previous quarter, how many of those searches produced a lead or an actionable result, how many searches were done without prior judicial authorization.
Port Huron Police Chief Brian Kerrigan and Assistant Police Chief Jeremy Young couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Contact Johnathan Hogan at jhogan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Port Huron sets new rules for police use of license plate cameras
Reporting by Johnathan Hogan, Port Huron Times Herald / Port Huron Times Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Johnathan Hogan, Port Huron Times Herald | USA TODAY Network
