Last week, the West Virginia House of Delegates Joint Standing Committee on Government Organization held hearings with representatives of Flock Safety. They questioned the group on the advanced technology used with the automated license plate reader systems, some coming away unsatisfied with the company’s data security after reports of misuse by law enforcement in other states.
Moorefield Police Chief Stephen Riggleman, however, states that the license plate readers used in the Town have nothing to do with either Flock Safety or the advanced technology their cameras use in other areas.
“I welcome these questions,” he said.
“I believe the public deserves an accurate explanation of what the system is, how it was implemented, how it is used, and how it benefits our community,” stated Chief Riggleman in a release from the Moorefield Police Department. He added that “there appears to be some confusion between the LPR system operated by the Moorefield Police Department and other, more advanced technologies that may be associated with different systems and manufacturers.”
While the technology has become commonly referred to as “Flock,” other companies also make a variety of different LPRs with varying capabilities.
Camera systems associated with Flock Safety have enhanced capabilities that can allow for tracking of a vehicle or license plate as it traverses an area. West Virginia Metro News stated that “the overriding concern . . . is the creation of a massive passive surveillance network that tracks and logs the movements of ordinary citizens, including people not suspected of any crimes, without a warrant.”
It also shared that the Washington Post has published accounts of law enforcement officers using surveillance capabilities for personal and illicit purposes, including stalking of women.
Flock Safety’s representative urged that lawmakers “pass robust guardrails” for use of the technology to prevent that issue. Advocates add that the technology can quickly locate, for example, a vehicle carrying a kidnapped child.
Chief Riggleman emphasized that the Moorefield Police Department does not use Flock equipment. It used federal grant funding, with the approval of the Moorefield Town Council, to purchase devices from Motorola. The camera utilizes “basic License Plate Reader technology” to “capture a still photograph of the rear of the vehicle as it passes the camera.”
The system primarily assists MPD in identifying vehicles used in the commission of a crime as they leave the town limits. Since one state highway taking traffic out of Moorefield runs past a school, one camera is located there.
Chief Riggleman assured residents that the camera does not record any activities on campus. He also explained that over the four years of their use, they have helped to solve a number of felony crimes, including an armed robbery.
Police have always had the authority to look up license plate numbers from the West Virginia Division of Highways. Chief Riggleman detailed that they use a closed system that only police officers may access. Since the system is “auditable,” it tracks exactly who searches and when to create a record of inquiries that prevents potential abuses.
No personal information comes up simply from the photograph itself.
“The LPR system does not replace police work, investigations, witnesses, interviews, evidence collection, or probable cause. It provides another piece of information that may help establish where a particular vehicle was at a particular time,” said Chief Riggleman, who added, “In some cases, that information can be extremely valuable.”
