Flock Safety pauses partnership with federal agencies amid concerns about cameras being misused

By Chantelle Navarro

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    Oklahoma (KOCO) — A major change is coming to Flock cameras nationwide after ongoing privacy and security concerns.

The cameras use artificial intelligence technology to help law enforcement track down criminals. But the company is pulling back a pilot program with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Police departments across the nation, including dozens in Oklahoma, use Flock cameras, but many community members have expressed concerns with them in regard to security. The cameras record license plates, but its data sharing aspect is under scrutiny.

Just under a year ago, KOCO 5 reported on a study by lawmakers raising red flags over the Flock cameras, the street surveillance tools that state Rep. Tom Gann believed do a lot more than just read license plates.

“In fact, they collect images to create a vehicle fingerprint that are searchable for features such as type, color, bumper stickers or roof racks. The capability provides certain activities of mass surveillance across state lines,” Gann said.

Lawmakers were trying to figure out whether the cameras violated Fourth Amendment rights. But now, more than 50 law enforcement agencies use them across Oklahoma, including the Oklahoma City Police Department.

“I can say our folks who utilize that technology, it has been instrumental in catching very violent and bad folks getting out on the streets of Oklahoma City,” Mark Nelson, president of the Oklahoma City Fraternal Order of Police, said.

But the results have proven to be imperfect.

ABC News reported that a police chief admitted to using it to track his ex-girlfriend 228 times in Kansas City. In Illinois, a police department shared data with a Texas sheriff on a missing woman after her family said she underwent a self-administered abortion.

Now, the camera company said it rejects searches that include words like “abortion,” “immigration,” or “ICE.”

“Any abuse of this technology or authority or power certainly is not helpful, and it needs to be safeguarded, and those things certainly should occur. But I can say here in Oklahoma and Oklahoma City, I’m not aware of any of those cases and any misuse or abuse that has occurred,” Nelson said.

The U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement initially asked to use Flock cameras to help combat human trafficking and fentanyl distribution. Flock Safety said it’s unaware of any immigration-related searches made.

There are more than 4,000 of these cameras nationwide.

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