Police chiefs in 2 Massachusetts towns defend Flock cameras: "They help us solve crimes"

Big Brother hovering above the road, that's the fear when it comes to Flock cameras. The controversial license plate readers have come under fire recently, with several Massachusetts towns shutting their systems down. In Norwood and North Attleboro their police chiefs are making pleas to keep their cameras rolling.

"We implemented the Flock program after we had a particularly bad year of some violent crimes," said Norwood Police Chief Chris Padden. "We had a street camera program but found it very reactive."

They have 14 cameras around Norwood. They are strategically placed at the entrances and exits of the town.

"What we were really looking for is something that when somebody came to town that was on our hot list we would know," said Chief Padden.

Missing girl found in Norwood

On the same night Chief Padden went before the town's select board to push for the cameras, he says they got a Flock ping for a missing 17-year-old girl from Rhode Island. They believe she fled a group home with a man.

"We knew she was in town because we had gotten a hit, and Cranston had put it out. We were able to recover her that night. We never would have been able to do that without Flock," said Chief Padden.

In Norwood, their cameras can only be used for crimes and missing persons cases. They have also made changes to their retention policy. They now only store the data for 14 days instead of 30. They have even considered dropping it further to seven days.

"Any good policy is a living policy. As you discover defects, or need to change, you fix them and determine if the system has a way of self-checking itself," said Chief Padden.

He says Flock now has an auditing system to detect misuse by an officer if they repeatedly check the same plate.

"It's a tool you want to have your officers use, but then you see the other side of it, and you say we need to put restrictions in place to make sure citizens are taken care of. So, we have started the audit process," said Chief Padden.

Push to keep Flock cameras in North Attleboro

To the south, North Attleboro is in the same fight. Police Chief Richard McQuade went before the town council to push to keep their cameras.

"They don't solve crimes, they help us solve crimes, and people want accountability," Chief McQuade told the council.

He says they are still haunted by the case of Jennifer Mbugua. She went missing in 2014 and was last seen near a Shell gas station. He says investigators believe she got in a car and left.

"If there's a case like this that ever happened again, a missing person, without a doubt it would be on there. Then we would have a lead. We have had absolutely nothing to go on," said Chief McQuade.

In two weeks, North Attleboro will have a public hearing on the cameras, but the board voted to allow them to stay operational for now.