After Chatham County residents voiced privacy concerns for Pittsboro’s Flock Cameras, the town recently met to clarify its policies around the surveillance technology and data collection.
The Flock Safety system aims to help local police identify suspects and locate missing persons by taking still images of a vehicle’s “distinguishing features,” including the license plate. Two years after Pittsboro began installing them, February saw yard signs throughout Chatham County promoting PittsboroCameras.org, a community-driven site calling for the immediate removal of all nine cameras.
Pittsboro Police Chief Clarence “Shorty” Johnson led the presentation at the April 13 Board of Commissioners meeting. He shared how the data is town-owned and effective in solving crimes related to motor-vehicles and missing persons, investigating 72 cases already using the technology.
“I appreciate the time to be able to present on this,” Johnson said. “It’s my fault. I guess we should have presented this earlier to get the information out to the community. I just want the community to know that we have been listening to y’all. We have been diligently working to try and change things.”
Pittsboro has cleared 37 incidents using its Flock Cameras, investigating 72 in total. (Image via Town of Pittsboro.)
In December, Pittsboro began prohibiting the use of data for immigrant-related searches and reproductive care investigations. Johnson also clarified how all data and images gathered by the cameras are owned by the town, and while Pittsboro withdrew its participation in the nationwide network this year, that information can still be shared with other North Carolina law enforcement agencies.
Johnson also explained that town officers, detectives, and administrators can only search for license plate numbers or vehicle descriptions that match active alerts, with those searches logged and auditable. Unless connected to a crime, he said the data is deleted after 30 days. Community members can also visit a transparency portal to view the number of active hotlist hits and learn about Flock.
“It’s a case-driven investigative tool,” Johnson said. “That’s all it is. We have to have a case to go in and look at these cameras.”
The police chief also explained how the system does not allow for continuous tracking and monitoring, a primary worry shared by residents during prior board meetings. He said the cameras solely take a “snapshot” of a vehicle for its make, color, and whether it has bumper stickers, not capturing words on the car or following where it goes.
An example of a snapshot taken by a Flock Camera. (Image via Town of Pittsboro.)
The cameras were phased into Pittsboro in areas with higher rates of vehicle-related crimes, and Johnson said he wants law enforcement to have all necessary tools available for solving crime alongside future growth. But Commissioner Candace Hunziker asked if that could mean more cameras, and therefore, a wider scope for surveillance.
“You said that you won’t know if I make a turn if I’m going to a doctor or if I’m going to a church,” Hunziker said. “That’s because of the placement of your camera. We only have nine. But as more cameras get introduced into town, if another business decides to put one right on a corner by my doctor, well now that data would be there because now my car has gotten a picture closer to where I may have turned in.”
Board members and public commenters alike attributed their discomfort to the wider Flock network, not local police’s use of the data. For example, Johnson said local law enforcement does not monitor individuals, gatherings, and protests, but Hunziker argued how other “higher up” agencies and organizations with access to the data could.
Following the presentation, Commissioner John Bonitz said he is “more convinced than ever” in Pittsboro’s police force’s ability to use the cameras safely and effectively. But he shared the sentiment of how that trust does not necessarily translate to Flock.
“My concerns remain about the corporate ownership of the Flock company,” Bonitz said. “I think you’ve heard me say in writing, and I’ll say verbally, I am not interested in taking away tools for your law enforcement. I would be open to town-owned cameras and town administered and controlled data.”
The April 13 worked to clarify the town’s policies regarding Flock and data security. (Image via Town of Pittsboro.)
The only outlier at the meeting was Pittsboro resident Alan Cat, who spoke in support of the technology despite calling them a “24/7” surveillance system earlier this year. He said he thinks transparency about the data collection is the best way of moving forward, noting how the community largely wants a vote to end Pittsboro’s use of the cameras.
“I’m actually so confident that Flock will be an effective tool and proved so by these conversations that I think after the police department tells us about it tonight, they should continue to tell the community about it for an extended duration,” Cat said. “Maybe a couple months. And then it should be considered to be put before the public or general comment or discussion.
“And I think that if Flock is as advantageous as they say, the general public would actually vote saying that they encourage the use of Flock and the spending of funds on it.”
To watch the full presentation, click here.
Featured image via Henry Taylor/Chapel Hill Media Group.
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