Hamilton County Sheriff's Office officials will hold a press conference Sept. 3 to discuss its use of license plate-reader cameras.
The conference will cover the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office use of Flock cameras "and what the public can expect from our agency moving forward," according to a news release. The conference begins at 2 p.m. and will be livestreamed at this link.
Plate-reading cameras operated by Flock Safety allow law enforcement to track any vehicle's location without a warrant by capturing photos of its license plate each time it appears in view of a camera. While useful for policework, the cameras have attracted bipartisan criticism across Greater Cincinnati in recent weeks.
On Sept. 3, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said
he wouldn't apologize for using Flock cameras and reiterated the cameras' value to law enforcement. In recent weeks, four Northern Kentucky law enforcement agencies have discontinued their use of the cameras.
Delhi Township police and Wyoming police have launched transparency websites which list successful use cases of Flock, including arresting a homicide suspect and finding a missing elderly man.
An Enquirer review of police records found more than 1,100 license plate-reader cameras, namely those produced by Flock Safety, operating across Greater Cincinnati.
Law enforcement agencies have argued the technology has assisted with investigations into serious crimes, including homicides. Civil liberties advocates say the collection and storage of vehicle and location information for government use shows the cameras' true purpose is surveillance.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Hamilton County sheriff to discuss agency's use of Flock cameras
