Safety v. Surveillance: Idaho Falls Police Chief responds to concerns about Flock cameras

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – As conversations swirl around the use of Flock Safety cameras nationwide, Idaho Falls Police Chief Bryce Johnson is speaking out to address concerns about the technology.

Thirteen cameras have been installed near busy city intersections since September. The cameras are Automated License Plate Readers, recording the license plates of vehicles as they pass by.

Safety on the Streets

Chief Johnson says they are an effective tool for combatting crime in the community.

"We are solving a lot of crimes with license plate readers. There's a couple of big cases... – our young, early-teen girl that was kidnapped and trafficked across state lines," Johnson said. "We were able to find her as she crossed into Colorado through a license plate reader."

A wanted felon sexual offender who was threatening to rape a local citizen was also apprehended before the crime could occur, after his vehicle was picked up by a Flock camera.

Eyes on the Road

But others see the devices as a serious intrusion on privacy.

"They're here tracking everyone who drives right past them on this street and any of the other 12 cameras positioned throughout the city," said concerned Idaho Falls resident Finn Garren. "... Searching through this camera system does not require a warrant. Then Flock makes it very easy to share this data with other agencies."

However, Idaho State law only allows data collected from Flock cameras to be used to investigate misdemeanors, felonies and traffic accidents, Johnson clarified.

"It's finding people almost every day that have warrants – warrants for felony activity, warrants for domestic violence, drug trafficking," the Chief said. "It's finding stolen cars. It's solved property crimes when people's businesses are being burglarized."

The system includes safeguards that track each time data is accessed, to prevent misuse, he stated.

Idaho Falls employs "clear [30-day] date retention limits in compliance with Idaho State Law and the Constitutions of the United States and Idaho, strict access controls and audit logs, policies prohibiting use for generalized surveillance or political targeting and a public transparency page on Flock Safety reporting IFPD use in detail," he provided in a written statement.

Additionally, in Idaho Falls, the cameras are not used for immigration enforcement unless it's a felony case for aggravated re-entry.

Other concerns

Garren said much of the data being pulled by the cameras can be fed into A.I. to find information to identify a car or truck.

"It can get the make, model, color, dents, roof racks, bumper stickers – any identifiable piece of information off of the cars," Garren said. "... Ninety-nine percent of the people that are scanned by this are not even suspected of any crime of any sort."

Another common concern is the Fourth Amendment, which protects people against "unreasonable search and seizures ... in their persons, houses, papers, and effects," without a warrant and probable cause.

However, Johnson said license plate readers have been consistently ruled as constitutional by federal courts "when deployed with appropriate safeguards."

"The license plate reader is at a place where the police have a lawful and legal right to be," Johnson said. "There is no right to privacy on the public roadway, and so what the license plate readers do is take a picture of the rear license plate."

While concerns over constitutionality trouble Garren, another issue looms large.

"In Idaho Falls, a lot of people are concerned about 'Big Brother' and surveillance," Garren said. "I'm concerned over the lack of oversight that these cameras had going in. I was not given a vote. I was not asked if I wanted these."

Chief Johnson recognized citizen concerns, but he emphasized the cameras' continued role in bringing criminals to justice.

The Flock cameras led to 56 arrests in Idaho Falls between January and May of this year, and no abuses of the systems have occurred here, he stated.

"They are finding bad people doing bad things," Johnson said. "They’re saving victims and preventing bad crimes from happening, and they've been a great tool."