Binghamton residents are speaking out against automated license plate readers in the city as the due date for contract renewal with Flock Safety nears.
On many blocks within the City of Binghamton limits, cameras and ALPRs can be seen facing the streets, affixed to poles or placed on the ground. The AI-powered automated license plate readers were obtained for the purpose of helping law enforcement solve crimes, but many see the surveillance systems as an invasion of privacy.
On July 13, legislation was proposed that would end the city’s contract with Flock Safety, a company contracted by the city for the ALPRs. With the Flock Safety contract set to expire on Sept. 8 and a contract renewal deadline on Aug. 8, local organizers and residents are asking city council to ensure the agreements with Flock Safety and other ALPR vendors, like Motorola Solutions, are discontinued.
In June 2024, the Binghamton City Council voted to accept $66,000 in funding from the Office of the District Attorney’s Traffic Diversion Program for “the installation of cameras to enhance public safety,” as stated in a Broome County Legislature resolution from April. These cameras were placed specifically in the city’s “high-crime areas.”
The Binghamton City Police Department was awarded $468,668 in May 2024 as part of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s use of $20 million that went toward police surveillance technology across the state. The grant was obtained through a Law Enforcement Technology grant by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.
The funding, Hochul said, was meant to be used for public safety technology upgrades like license plate readers, drones, gunshot detection devices and street cameras. At the time, City of Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham said a $66,000 grant from the district attorney’s office would specifically be used for pole cameras – video surveillance equipment that can provide officers with a live feed of a specific area.
Before filling seats in the city council chamber on July 15, a rally was held outside of Binghamton City Hall with over a dozen people holding signs that read “Flock off” and “ALPRs are not welcome.”
Kraham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
What was said at the rally and meeting
Across the country, police departments have adopted ALPRs as a part of their investigative procedure. The cameras, according to Flock Safety’s website, take pictures of license plates to identify vehicles.
Adam Chandler, a member of the activist group Flock Off Ithaca, spoke at the rally about how resisting the surveillance technology led to Ithaca city officials ending their contract with Flock Safety. The surveillance technology, he said, is “anti-democratic” and could possibly provide police with information that can be passed on to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in order to make arrests.
Chandler said in California, the Los Angeles Police Department has halted its use of Flock cameras amid concerns over what the data obtained through surveillance is used for and how it may be shared with other agencies. A report released by the Inspector General of the Los Angeles Police Commission cited a rise in “concerns regarding the adequacy of internal oversight and safeguards designed to prevent unauthorized access and dissemination of ALPR data.”
“We know those rules are not in place here in Binghamton or Broome County,” Chandler said. “All of the same research that went into that report applies here and applies everywhere else where these Flock cameras are present.”
Linda Quilty, co-chair for Indivisible Binghamton, also spoke at the rally and expressed concerns over how Flock camera data is used by ICE and how it can be used to track activists who publicly express their political opinions.
“Everybody here is under a threat if they are traced everywhere they go,” she said. “The license plate readers and Flock, which is only one company that does that, is putting you in real danger, so it’s important that we stop this at the city level, at the county level and at the state level.”
Binghamton resident Richard McGrew spoke at the rally and called the use of ALPRs a violation of the New York State constitution. He cited Article 1 Section 12 of the Fourth Amendment, which provides New Yorkers protection from unreasonable searches, seizures and interceptions.
“They are illegal and every government that has them up is violating our state constitution and the rights of the citizens,” McGrew said.
Patricia Noble, a clinical social worker in Binghamton, spoke to the mental health impact of surveillance and how the normalization of surveillance “creates a culture of suspicion” and stress.
“When we’re under surveillance, we can’t be ourselves,” she said. “When you’re by yourself, you let your hair down. Even if you’re with the person who means the most to you, there’s still a piece of you that you keep to yourself. When we can’t do that, that’s stress, that’s anxiety and depression.”
Protesters then lined the rows of the council chambers to reiterate their stance on the use of ALPRs during a public comment session that lasted over an hour. Nina Hyatt, another concerned resident, said everyone is feeling “really on edge” over the use of surveillance in the city.
“The citizens of this city never voted or agreed to pay for and install mass surveillance cameras to be used against ourselves and our neighbors,” Hyatt said.
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Binghamton residents speak out against AI license plate surveillance
Reporting by Jillian McCarthy, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jillian McCarthy, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin | USA TODAY Network
