Why Should Delaware Care?
Automatic license plate readers, dubbed “Flock” cameras after their vendor Flock Safety, have sparked nationwide debates about government surveillance and the misuses of the artificial intelligence-backed tool. Delaware is home to about 300 of these cameras, funded by tax dollars. Statewide standards regulating their use have yet to be issued.
Tall poles mounted with dark-colored cameras and topped with solar panels powering the technology are sprouting up across Delaware. They are found alongside roadways and overlook commercial parking lots.
As each car passes by, these cameras can capture an image of the vehicle, including key characteristics such as its make, model, color and license plate number. They also can identify car racks, bumper stickers and large logos on the exterior of a vehicle.
While license plate reading technology has been used in law enforcement for more than 20 years, these new “Flock cameras” — colloquially named in reference to the largest company producing the technology —have come under fire in recent months. This scrutiny is largely due to fears of government surveillance, the use of advanced artificial intelligence tracking and the overall lack of regulations surrounding the cameras’ implementation.
Recent abuses of the technology, including stalking crimes, have also sparked debate.
Flock Safety, currently the largest and most high-profile vendor of the updated license plate reading cameras, is valued at $8.4 billion and held about 5,000 contracts with law enforcement agencies as of last year.
To better understand how the controversial technology is being deployed across the state, Spotlight Delaware spoke to Lt. Joel Diaz from the Georgetown Police Department, one of the law enforcement agencies currently contracting with Flock. Diaz broke down how his jurisdiction uses the Flock cameras, and how they manage the data.
What are license plate readers?
These cameras capture images of vehicles’ license plates, along with any apparent characteristics such as the make, model, color, large bumper stickers and any roof racks on a car.
They do not detect faces or other roaming objects such as bicycles or scooters.
Cameras capture a vehicle’s license plate number that can be run across specific databases to create records about the car, including if it is stolen and what other cameras have scanned its license plate.
Cameras specifically sold by Flock also come with access to the nation’s largest network of license plate recognition databases, making it easier to cross-reference and detect where cars have traveled across multiple jurisdictions.
Is the running of license plates legally allowed?
Yes.
License plates are considered Delaware property, and the cameras are located on public roadways when scanned, which means citizens legally give up a reasonable expectation of privacy.
What is not legal is being pulled over without a warrant based on a licence plate recognition database search.
How does Georgetown use Flock cameras?
The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) License Plate Database, which stores the records for stolen license plates or serious crimes, has a partnership with Flock Safety. This makes it easier for local law enforcement to see where a stolen vehicle has been and where its next moves are likely to be.
To run information on a car, a police officer logs into the Flock Safety portal where the only required text box before receiving results is “offense type” or the crime associated with the vehicle.
Optional entries include a complaint case number, reason for search, the vehicle details, the location and time and filtered search dates.
While these are optional, Diaz said an officer who does not input a complaint number or a valid reason is flagged during the 30-day audit his station conducts.
Misuses can result in termination and decertification, he said.
Diaz said the department has used the cameras for multiple cases, including homicides, drive-by shootings and even petty thefts.
Georgetown officers can only view data from the five Flock cameras within town limits. Diaz and Georgetown Police Chief Norman Barlow are the only employees who can cross-reference and access database information from other jurisdictions.
The department shares its data with some neighboring police stations across Delaware, Maryland and New York. These sharing agreements can be revoked at any time and are mutual by nature, Diaz said.
Accessing databases from other jurisdictions requires mutual sharing agreements. One way this sharing occurs is through Flock’s national “Hot List” alert system. Using NCIC data, the hot list notifies law enforcement agencies if a vehicle linked to a crime — like a car that was reported stolen or listed on an arrest warrant — from another area is in their jurisdiction.
For example, a person wanted for homicide in Wilmington may have their arrest warrant flagged under NCIC. If that person’s vehicle passes by a Flock camera in Georgetown, the police department is notified. Then, a Georgetown police officer must confirm the notification through the NCIC database and confirm the warrant exists before processing to arrest the suspect.
“So the notification from Flock is not a call to action,” Diaz said.
How long is Flock data stored?
The Georgetown Police Department permanently deletes any data it has collected after 30 days if it is not downloaded by an officer, Diaz said.
Separately, the Newark Police Department deletes its data after 180 days, according to public information requests filed by community advocate Amy Roe.
Flock Safety recently advised new customers to delete their data after seven days.
Why are there debates on Flock camera use?
Newark resident Amy Roe’s biggest concerns about Flock cameras are her unanswered questions about their possible misuse and the nature of data-sharing with outside agencies, particularly the federal government.
Through public information requests, Roe learned Newark officers conducted more than 4,000 Flock searches last year. The documents she received included no reports or suspicion of misuse, she said.
But as for data-sharing policies, Roe is still in the dark. The Newark Police Department denied her request for data-sharing agreements, telling her they are considered internal intelligence files.
According to Flock, it is up to individual customers to decide if outside federal agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement can obtain their data.
Diaz showed Spotlight Delaware the Flock Transparency Portal page, which would publicly show which jurisdictions the Georgetown Police Department has sharing agreements with. He said he is working to get permission from the chief to publish the portal.
Individual agencies who use the Flock system can opt to show this data to the public.
Diaz said he is working to publicize Georgetown’s portal.
He also said he understands public concerns over misuse of the system.
A Georgia police officer used the system to track his ex-girlfriend and daughter thousands of times.
Georgetown officers currently can cite “miscellaneous” as a reason to run license plates through Flock. But Diaz’s way to combat potential misuse is through monthly audits where he can directly see if an officer has not typed in a valid reason and case number to conduct a search.
But the system is not fool-proof.
“There’s nothing to stop somebody from putting in a complaint number and calling it a robbery, and it’s not a robbery, right?” Diaz said. “So it’s almost impossible. We just have to do a better job at our audits.”
What Flock regulations currently exist?
Nationally, there are none.
But the Delaware Association of Chiefs of Police, Delaware Police Accreditation Commission, and Police Officer Standards and Training Commission are working together to determine how these cameras can be used in the First State.
The proposed guidelines would require agencies to maintain policies that align with a model developed years ago, Police Officer Standards and Training Commission Director Charles Emory said in an email. Those policies would address data retention, access, authorized use and auditing, he added.
Emory said finalized guidelines are expected to be discussed during the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission October meeting, scheduled to take place Oct. 13.
For Roe, the Newark community advocate, these regulations are a long-time coming.
“I just I’m appalled that we are this deep in, and we’re just looking around saying, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s in place here?’” she said. ‘There’s hundreds of cameras all over the state, and there’s no oversight requirements at all statewide.’ Every town is making it up as they go along.”
Maryland and Virginia are among 23 states with laws regulating the use of automatic license plate readers.
Wilmington is set to take down its Flock cameras, but they will continue to buy from other vendors. Other cities have simply opted out of using the vehicle-identifying technology.
Diaz, the Georgetown officer, said it is imperative to find a middle ground that acknowledges both public worries and the fact that these systems help cases get solved more quickly.
The future of state oversight for Flock and other automatic license plate reading technology is not exactly clear, but law enforcement leaders will continue to discuss standards at next month’s Delaware Police Accreditation Commission meeting.
Get Involved:
The Delaware Police Accreditation Commission is set to meet at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The meeting will take place at 1128 S. Bradford St. in Dover. More information, including about virtual attendance, can be found here.
