Blue Ash will keep running its Flock Safety license-plate reader cameras. Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey announced Thursday, Sept. 3, that her office is shutting down all 75 of its Flock cameras countywide.
McGuffey called the move a pause, not a permanent cancellation, FOX19 reported. The sheriff's office will stop recording license plates and cut off its access to data the cameras have collected.
"We're pausing until we have stronger guardrails in place," McGuffey said.
She said the technology has been useful but that residents have raised concerns about how it is used. The sheriff's office plans to cover, disable or remove the cameras at no additional cost to the county. McGuffey said no deputy in her department has misused the technology.
The sheriff is looking to Flock Safety and the Ohio Legislature to establish clearer rules before reactivating the system.
Blue Ash stays on
Blue Ash is not following suit. FOX19 listed the city among the Greater Cincinnati jurisdictions still running Flock cameras. The list also includes Anderson Township, Colerain Township, Evendale, Indian Hill, Madeira, Mason, Sharonville and more than a half-dozen other communities.
No public statement from the Blue Ash Police Department on its Flock program or any plans to review the contract appeared in available records as of Sept. 3.
Other communities drop Flock cameras
The sheriff's pause adds Hamilton County to a growing roster of governments stepping away from the cameras. Oxford's City Council voted 6-1 on Aug. 19 to end its contract after residents objected to data sharing with outside agencies. Pierce Township in Clermont County is also ending its deal, citing vandalism and the cost of replacing damaged cameras, according to an Ohio Newsroom report published Sept. 2.
Several Northern Kentucky cities have dropped the cameras too, including Newport, Fort Mitchell, Fort Thomas and Erlanger.
Nationally, 144 local governments have canceled automated license-plate reader contracts, according to a database the Institute for Justice released Aug. 31. More than 8,000 Flock cameras are installed across Ohio, according to the volunteer tracking group DeFlock.
What the cameras do
Flock cameras photograph vehicles and license plates. They can alert officers when a plate matches a stolen-car report, a missing-person case or an active investigation. Local police agencies say the cameras are not used to issue speeding or red-light tickets. Flock Safety says the devices capture vehicles and plates, not faces.
Institute for Justice attorney Michael Soyfer has argued that the cameras "collect troves of data on ordinary people's movements," compiling records that officers can search freely. The debate centers on data retention, cross-agency sharing and Fourth Amendment protections.
Residents who want to learn more about Blue Ash's Flock program can contact the Blue Ash Police Department.
