The Albany City Council will soon decide whether to turn the police department’s Flock camera back on.
Only one of the four contracted Flock cameras has been installed in Albany, and was turned off after a City Council vote in February. The camera was then stolen.
Critics of the AI-powered license plate reading cameras call them an invasion of privacy that can put vulnerable people at risk, especially if data gathered by the cameras is accessed by law enforcement agencies from outside the area.
At a recent community meeting, the Albany Police Department answered questions from the Albany Public Safety Commission and the public about the cameras.
Police Chief Marcia Harnden said the Flock camera system is susceptible to the same risks as other police databases.
“It's about having good audits in place, good oversight in place, and then when we see abnormalities, checking on them,” said Harnden.
Meeting attendees cited several concerns including data privacy, camera misuse by officers, targeting of marginalized communities, and camera use by federal immigration enforcement. Other cities in Oregon, including Eugene and Springfield, had implemented these cameras, but have permanently disabled them due to similar concerns.
Sheerica Ware Wilkins, public affairs manager for Flock who also attended the May 18 meeting, said she understands the concerns presented, and that Flock should have had more privacy protections from the get-go.
“We dropped the ball way earlier. We should have been in the conversation, putting up guardrails immediately,” said Wilkins.
Members of the Public Safety Commission also discussed concerns, with commission member Joanna Robinson stating she doesn’t think enough trust has been built with the public.
“So I hesitate to move forward with something like this when it makes members of our community, a good chunk of them, afraid,” said Robinson.
Commissioner Bessie Johnson said she wants to resume use of the cameras to see if they provide safety benefits in Albany.
“There comes a time when you have to trust your police department,” said Johnson.
Ultimately, the commission voted to recommend resuming camera use to the city council.
At the next meeting on Wednesday May 27, the Albany City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to re-install the downtown camera and move forward with placing three other cameras around the city.
