REGIONAL— Flock cameras in St. Louis County are coming down within days. County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay confirmed this week that his office made the decision last month to end its current contract with Flock, the company that manufactures the remote cameras, designed to read vehicle license plates. That decision became official on Aug. 10, and he said Flock is expected to remove the ten cameras placed across the county “in the coming days.”
The city of Duluth had earlier announced that it will be ending its contract with Flock effective Sept. 7.
Sheriff Ramsay notes that the use of the cameras was part of a pilot project intended to evaluate the technology, but that the considerable public concern surrounding the use of the devices had prompted his office to terminate their use.
The concern locally was consistent with growing nationwide opposition to use of the devices, mostly out of concerns about violations of privacy and the use of the cameras by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in their efforts to round up immigrants.
Ramsay said “a fair amount” of the information circulating about Flock cameras is inaccurate, “but nonetheless, when there is community concern, it is a concern of mine, too.” Those concerns have led to the theft or destruction of Flock cameras in locations around the country. Ramsay confirmed that there have been thefts of the cameras in St. Louis County as well.
While widespread sharing of data collected by Flock cameras in other states has been a major concern of the public, Ramsay said while his office did share data with some Minnesota law enforcement agencies, he said the county did not share collected data with any federal or out-of-state entities. He noted that Minnesota has one of the country’s most comprehensive laws regulating the use and auditing of such cameras.
Within Minnesota, Ramsay said the use of the data collected within the county was limited to authorized law enforcement purposes and governed by both state law and agency policy, including restrictions on access, use, retention, tracking, and sharing as well as comprehensive auditing requirements.
Ramsay denied that data gathered by Flock cameras was being sold to third parties by the company itself, noting that the company has publicly denied that is occurring. “While we do not sell or provide data to anyone, people should be aware, the state of Minnesota sells their data to private vendors that include license plate registration and driver information and, in my opinion, this should not be happening and is ripe for abuse.”
While his office has opted to remove the Flock cameras at this time, Ramsay said he continues to believe that the technology is a valuable tool, one that he has seen help solve kidnappings, homicide, cases involving missing persons, thefts, shootings, and other serious crimes.
“That said, the purpose of a pilot project is to evaluate the results, costs, operational issues and community concerns and as such we decided not to continue with Flock,” said Ramsay.
