As some communities discontinue or pause the use of Flock cameras, the City of Radford will continue to use the technology.
At a recent Radford City Council meeting, Radford City Police Chief Jerry Holdaway addressed council members and the public about his department’s use of the automated license plate reader cameras. In August, the Town of Christiansburg shut down the town’s Flock cameras after a unanimous vote to do so by the town council. In Montgomery County, the sheriff’s department has paused their use while a review committee of local officials and community leaders examines the department’s “current policies and practices surrounding ALPR technology, including its effectiveness, impact on public safety, privacy protections, data access, costs, and existing safeguards,” Sheriff Robert Page announced.
“The purpose of this review is to ensure that our policies remain responsible, transparent, and consistent with our obligation to protect the people we serve. ALPR technology has proven to be a valuable tool for law enforcement. At the same time, any decision should be based on more than potential benefits alone and continued use of the technology should be evaluated based on its effectiveness, public perception, and its usefulness in conjunction with neighboring agencies.”
At the Sept. 14 Radford City Council meeting, Holdaway said his Chief’s Advisory Committee, made up of Radford community members and business leaders, will be reviewing the department’s use of Flock cameras and will provide a report to city council. The cameras will remain in use during that process.
“I know there’s been a knee jerk reaction in a lot of other places, but I think we’re doing things right, and we’re doing the right thing,” said Holdaway. “This past Friday, someone was indicted for murder and Flock technology allowed us to locate that person and make the arrest quickly.”
Holdaway also said there is a lot of misinformation about the cameras and their capabilities circulating.
“Flock only takes a photo of a car as it passes through an intersection where we have a camera,” he said. “It IDs the color, make and model of a car and takes a picture of the rear license plate. It doesn’t use facial technology software. It doesn’t capture Bluetooth data.”
Holdaway said information gathered by Flock cameras is accessed only by the Radford City Police Department and anyone who accesses the system has to enter their identification and a case number. Data remains on the system for 21 days and is then automatically deleted.
“We own 100 percent of that data,” he said. “We do not sell it to anyone and neither does Flock.”
Holdaway also clarified that Flock cameras are not used to generate traffic tickets. He said the department has a transparency portal on the department’s website where people can view the department policy regarding Flock cameras and see how many the city has in use. He also pointed out that the Commonwealth of Virginia has one of the strictest guidelines regarding the use of license plate reading cameras in the country, and that police departments do not share the data with federal agencies.
Radford Mayor David Horton urged anyone in the Radford community with a question or concern about the use of Flock cameras to submit that question or concern to the police department or a member of city council and those will be included in the work of the Chief’s Advisory Committee.
