Neighbors, police departments eye Flock camera transparency changes

CHARLOTTE — Surveillance company Flock just announced new changes to its license plate reader platform after a string of incidents of misuse and arrests involving law enforcement, including some right here in our area.

On Thursday, people in York County told Channel 9 South Carolina Reporter Tina Terry that they know these cameras are beneficial, but they hope the changes will produce more ‘accountability’ for the officers using them.

The company says it’s pushing for better transparency in the public.

FLOCK CAMERA MISUSE:

“The more oversight, the more micromanage or whatever you want to say it, I think it minimizes the abuse,” said Joyce Miller, a neighbor in York County.

Miller says those changes announced by Flock today are major when it comes to protecting the public and preventing misuse by officers.

Flock rolled out the changes in a YouTube video, saying it will require mandatory auditing to detect abnormal activity and to flag potential misuse of cameras.

The company will also soon require case codes connecting every search to a criminal investigation. And it is now suggesting that every law enforcement agency provide “transparency portals” to the public. Those are websites that allow people to see how an agency is using the cameras and that agency’s data retention policy.

York County Deputy Trent Faris says the sheriff’s office is now working to review the new changes.

“So what we’re doing now is looking at what those changes are and looking to be able to incorporate that into what we already have right now. So we do understand what the community’s concerns are about Flock,” said Deputy Trent Faris, public information officer with the York County Sheriff’s Office.

He says YCSO is already working to launch a transparency portal on its website.

“But we’re not going to just use the link that Flock gives us, we’re gonna give the public a little bit more about how we’re using Flock. And questions that they may have, that they have concerns about Flock,” Faris said.

It says that portal should be up sometime next month.

The sheriff’s office has about 19 Flock cameras -- other agencies in our area have many more.

Rock Hill Police told Channel 9 they’re reviewing the transparency portal to discuss its implementation, and they’re using the audit assistant with an administrator who conducts “random, independent audits” for the agency.

Chester County told Channel 9 it was unable to answer our questions by our deadline Thursday, but the sheriff’s office shared its license plate reader policy. (Link)