Flock Safety camera in Tempe
TEMPE, Ariz. - Tempe city officials say the East Valley city will end all data sharing from its Flock automated license plate readers, citing privacy concerns and recent misuse incidents involving other local law enforcement agencies.
What we know:
The decision to cease data sharing was announced in a statement released on Aug. 11.
"While we had previously restricted data sharing to Arizona law enforcement agencies only, this additional step will further safeguard Tempe’s data and ensure we maintain appropriate control over access," said Tempe Police Chief Ken McCoy, in the statement.
Dig deeper:
Tempe city officials say their police department has "never used Flock Safety data for any purpose other than law enforcement."
"The Department has taken comprehensive precautions to prevent misuse," read a portion of the statement.
The city says they audit searches that were made using the Flock system on a monthly basis.
"The most recent audit was conducted on Friday, Aug. 7. No misuse was found in that audit – or in any previous audits," read a portion of the statement.
The city also announced the launch of a new transparency portal, saying the portal "displays live data and usage metrics to show the community how the technology is governed and operated."
Big picture view:
Recently, two Phoenix area police departments have had to deal with issues related to automated license plate readers.
On Aug. 7, the City of Chandler announced that they are parting ways with Flock cameras, after an internal investigation was launched into potential misuse of the technology. While the city's police chief, Bryan Chapman, could not talk specifics about the ongoing investigation, he did say that no one’s privacy has been compromised as part of the potential misuse.
Chandler police end Flock camera use amid probe into potential misuse
Chandler city officials say the East Valley will stop using dozens of Flock automated license plate readers. Officials also say an audit revealed "an anomaly in the use of the Flock system."
In Apache Junction, police there announced that one of their officers resigned after an internal investigation found he used the technology to track down his wife for personal reasons.
The officer was identified as Joshua McDaniel, and the department said McDaniel would have been fired had he not step down.
"It’s a shame that this happened, but my job as the police chief is to build trust in this department and to build trust with our community," said police chief Michael Pooley.
Apache Junction officer resigns after using license plate reader to track down his wife
An Apache Junction police officer resigned after an internal investigation revealed he misused automated license plate reader technology to locate his wife.
What's next:
City officials say there will be another round of bidding for an automated license plate reader vendor in the future.
"The Request for Proposals (RFP) is intended to help the City find a product that offers the strongest data security and best public safety options. The contract will also include penalties for any misuse of data by the vendor chosen," read a portion of the city's statement.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from a statement released by Temoe Police.