COSHOCTON − Coshocton County Sheriff Chris Walters has ordered the removal of all eight Flock license plate reader cameras across the county. It is the end of the program he said helped solve cases, but doesn’t have community support.
The cameras were turned off on Aug. 12. A day later Walters ordered the cameras to be covered until Flock Safety can remove them.
“It does help solve crime and has helped in the past, but we’ll just go back to old-fashioned law enforcement and do what we’ve got to do,” Walters told the Tribune. “It sounds like people aren’t ready for this kind of technology yet in our community.”
The sheriff’s office recently launched a flock camera transparency portal offered by Flock Safety featuring system usage statistics, policies and safeguards and other information like how Flock cameras have helped law enforcement with cases.
Among success stories listed on the portal was a drug case that coincides with known information regarding the arrest and subsequent conviction of James Cox of Coshocton. In October, Cox was found in a vehicle with 783 grams of methamphetamine and Flock cameras were used to track the vehicle’s travel from Coshocton to Columbus and back.
Attorney Marie Wheeler said she would appeal his conviction after he pled no contest to aggravated possession of drugs, a first-degree felony, on Aug. 10. She said the use of the Flock cameras violated his Fourth Amendment right to illegal search and seizure. Walters said the Cox case had no bearing on his decision to end the Flock camera program.
While Walters doesn’t believe there are any constitutional concerns with the use of the cameras, he said if the electorate doesn’t want the technology used, his office won’t use it.
“I care about our community and I listen to people in our community,” Walters stated. “It sounds like there are a lot of concerns about this and that, about people being tracked. Quite honestly, I could care less who goes out to Walmart and goes to the grocery store. It’s not what we used Flock for.”
As of Aug. 11, the portal listed 38 alerts. Of those, 15 were sex offenders and 12 were for stolen plates. Other alerts were related to stolen vehicles, missing people, warrants and protection orders. Hot list alerts for the period, which includes from other agencies, were 556. A hot list is a list of flagged plates that give instant alerts.
The county isn’t the only entity receiving pushback on the cameras.
Columbus City Council recently held a meeting to discuss the future use of the cameras in the city, according to the Columbus Dispatch. And USA Today has reported critics are fighting back against the technology with protests, calls for legislation, websites tracking the trackers and vandalism of cameras.
“I took an oath to uphold and protect rights people have. That’s a big thing of my oath and that’s one reason I made the decision to remove Flock cameras in Coshocton County. I want people to feel safe in our community,” Walters said. “I don’t want people to feel like they have to look over their shoulder every time they travel from point A to point B.”
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Privacy vs. public safety. Coshocton sheriff shuts off license plate readers
Reporting by Coshocton Tribune / Coshocton Tribune
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By Coshocton Tribune | USA TODAY Network
