(WXIX/WKYT) – Newport Police held a town hall Wednesday night to let residents weigh in on whether the city’s automated license plate reader program should become permanent.
The department has been running a pilot program using cameras made by Flock Safety since the end of last year, starting with 17 cameras and narrowing to six locations.
What the cameras do — and don’t do
A Flock Safety representative clarified during the meeting that the cameras do not catch speeders.
“The cameras take a photo of the back of the vehicle, capturing the license plate in the back of the vehicle, does not capture individuals, how many, anything about them,” the representative said.
The cameras alert police to stolen cars and help track wanted suspects. Officials also said sharing Flock data with the federal government is not under consideration, addressing concerns raised in other U.S. cities regarding immigration enforcement.
Residents push back on data control
Newport Police said they wanted to hear opposition to the program.
“This is very important, like I said, I wouldn’t do this, we wouldn’t be as eager to have a meeting knowing the contention with the cameras had we not wanted to hear some of the opposition — again, I know it’s a very tenuous subject, I know a lot of people have their concerns and we want to hear it,” a department representative said.
Because Flock Safety is a private company, the surveillance data collected by Newport Police is not fully controlled by the department. That point drew sharp responses from residents.
“How do we know our data is going to be safe when there is a breach?” one resident said.
“We cannot trust them,” said another.
“I trust our police, I do not trust Flock. There’s voluminous information available that Flock shouldn’t be trusted and can’t be,” a third resident said.
Others called for more transparency from every agency using the cameras in the region.
“If it’s going to be active here in Newport, more active in Campbell County, we obviously all need to be very clear about how the departments are managing and how the audits are going to happen and our rights as individuals,” one resident said.
Regional context and cost
Newport is not alone in using the technology. Communities across Greater Cincinnati — including Mount Healthy, Blue Ash, Golf Manor, Franklin, and Cincinnati — are already using similar systems.
The six cameras would cost the city $3,000 each, annually.