It took a Milwaukee police officer illegally surveilling someone he was dating more than 120 times through a car tracking camera system before the police department revamped its oversight of the technology.
And it wasn’t until dozens of instances like that across the country that Flock Safety, the private company behind most prevalent form of the cameras that track license plates, announced it was strengthening its own safeguards.
On Aug. 13, Flock announced it was implementing new guardrails for its controversial technology that is widely implemented by law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Those include things like a shorter retention period of seven days for any data collected, requirements for any searches to be tied to a case and for auditing to be mandated for unusual searches.
“Abuse of Flock technology, at any level, is unacceptable,” the company said in its announcement of its overhaul of safeguards.
What are Flock’s changes?
Flock Safety’s announcement included a handful of changes. Those include:
The company says its technology is in place in over 6,000 communities and 5,000 law enforcement agencies.
Milwaukee already made changes to Flock after 2 officers found to have misused it
Some of these things, like requiring a case number and reason for a search, were already put into place by the Milwaukee Police Department. Others like more thorough auditing, came following its own overhaul of safeguards.
That overhaul came after former police officer Josue Ayala was investigated and later convicted of a misdemeanor for misuse of the system.
Milwaukee police’s new audit process turn up another example of alleged misuse: an internal affairs detective, who had investigated Ayala, had misused it himself to track someone 17 times through Flock.
Detective Tehrangi Chapman faces a felony charge of misconduct in public office and one misdemeanor of misuse of a GPS device in relation to the misuse, which also included searching police reports and tracking a vehicle with a tracker.
Milwaukee police currently keep Flock data for 30 days and audits the system monthly.
Milwaukee police spokesperson Lt. Efrain Cornejo said the department is still reviewing Flock’s recommended changes.
Milwaukee police use cameras frequently, running 6,300 searches in April alone
Milwaukee police use the system incredibly frequently and have touted its use in homicide investigations, missing persons and other lower level crimes.
The department has access to at least 35 Flock cameras. In April, officers conducted searches for 1,619 full plate or partial plate numbers, according to department risk manager James Lewis. Each plate or partial plate number was about four times each on average; that equals about 6,300 searches in total.
The system can also be used to search for vehicle identifying factors, such as a color and make.
The department has other license plate reading cameras through Axon technology, a company best known for its body cameras and stun guns called Tasers. At least 80 squad vehicles are outfitted with Axon license plate reading technology and 39 additional cameras through the company Gentech.
Milwaukee police have seen strong opposition to use of Flock
Milwaukee activists and residents have pushed hard against the car tracking cameras.
That opposition has only grown stronger with charges against the officers, an incident where a person was wrongly stopped on the freeway after being flagged as a possible homicide suspect, and broader concerns of mass surveillance.
In public meetings, those against the technology frequently hold signs with messages like “GET THE FLOCK OUTTA HERE” and calls for the city to be “de-Flocked.”
The Milwaukee police have no current investigations into Flock or automated license plate reading system misuse.
Flock changes not enough for civil liberties groups
Flock’s overhaul came after the Washington Post released an Aug. 2 investigation into nationwide misuse of the system.
In Wisconsin, numerous officers outside of Milwaukee have been accused of misusing it, from Menasha to Racine.
Flock’s announcement of its overhauling of safeguards was met lukewarmly by organizations who have been critical of Flock and other police surveillance. The American Civil Liberties Union called the announcement a “thinly veiled PR attempt to counter communities’ genuine privacy concerns” and the Electronic Frontier Foundation said the changes were “too little too late.”
The ACLU questioned whether the data retention policy – and an exception to it that allows for data to be retained longer for verified investigations – would in effect have little positive impact.
Flock pushes back on criticisms, defends policy changes
Flock’s CEO told USA Today he believed Flock can be used with privacy in mind. His company has also began to push out examples of its use in assisting solving crimes.
For instance, on Aug. 4, a spokesperson for the company emailed the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and highlighted how Flock was used to help find a hit-and-run suspect hours after the crime occurred.
“I think there’s a misconception that we have to make a choice between safety and privacy. And I just refuse to accept that,” CEO Garrett Langley told the outlet.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Car tracking cameras get overhauled. Will things change in Milwaukee?
Reporting by David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
