After Year of Trial License Plate Recognition Cameras, Auburn Hills Extends Flock Contract
(Crystal A. Proxmire, July 24, 2023)
Auburn Hills, MI – At their July 10 meeting, Auburn Hills City Council voted unanimously to extend a contract with Flock Safety for five years, after testing out the system for about a year.
Flock uses cameras pointed at public streets to read license plates and compare the numbers to a database that alerts officers if a vehicle has been reported stolen, may have a missing person, is suspected in a crime, or if the driver may have warrants. The cameras can also be used to review vehicles in the area when a crime occurs.
Flock usage has been growing by police departments in Oakland County and around the country, with Detroit, Southfield, Hazel Park and Ferndale among those adopting the technology.
Police agencies see Flock as a tool for solving crimes, and a deterrent. Though the use of the systems has raised concern by those who oppose government surveillance, or who worry that individuals with access to the system could use it inappropriately.
The five year contract costs $55,000 per year.
Oakland County Times sent questions via email to Auburn Hills Police Chief Ryan Gagnon about the system and his experience after using it for a year.
1 – Why has the city decided to use Flock?
We recognized that this technology was growing across the country and evaluated it to determine if it was something that could benefit our community. We realized that automatic license plate readers are utilized as a crime prevention tool (deterrent), just as much as it is utilized to detect wanted vehicles or aid in investigations. Our city has a lot of traffic that comes in and out of the city on a daily basis. The majority of crimes committed across the country involve the use of a vehicle and the crimes committed in our community are no exception. Cameras placed at strategic locations can capture images of license plates and alert our officers in the field of stolen vehicles, stolen license plates, wanted persons (serious felonies entered into NCIC), missing persons, etc. Images are only stored for 30 days but are useful by providing leads to investigators of described suspect vehicles used in the commission of a crime.
2 – Did you talk to other cities about their experiences? And if so can you tell me what cities and if there were any specific incidents that you found inspiring in your decision?
We came on board a year ago, so there were only a few agencies in Michigan using the technology at the time. We reached out to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, who had them installed in Pontiac, as well as agencies on the west side of the state. We also spoke to a few departments in the Indianapolis area where they have been installed all over the area. One thing that stuck out was the recovery of missing persons and children. The ability to manually enter a license plate into the system when time is of the essence in Amber Alert situations to be alerted if it passes by one of our cameras.
3 – How many cameras will be installed, and when?
We have 22 cameras installed within the city. We are averaging 2 million license plates read per month and since January 1, 2023, have had over 450 alerts (notifications) to our officers of wanted vehicles.
4 – In Ferndale, residents were concerned about government surveillance, and policies/procedures were set up to ensure that the system can only be accessed by certain officers and only under certain circumstances. Has Auburn Hills set up any policies to assure the public that the program will be used as intended?
We also had concerns about this as well and take this very seriously. We have a comprehensive policy and procedure in place proving rules for its use by our staff. All use is tracked in the system and our administrators have full access to check and monitor our staff use of the system. Our policy requires that a police report number be associated with any search in the system and providing a reason for the search. The use has to be official and related to an investigation.
5 – Anything else you would like people to know about this?
We just want people to know that these cameras take a photograph of the license plate (rear of the vehicle) and does not capture the image of the driver, nor is facial recognition utilized in any way. Again, the images are only stored for 30 days, and they are automatically deleted from the system, and we have no access to them.
