Monterey Park police host community forum on Flock cameras as residents ask for transparency
Monterey Park police and residents gathered at a city council meeting on Tuesday night to discuss how Flock cameras are used in their community.
Though the 34 cameras have been mounted at intersections throughout the city for several years, there's a new wave of suspicion about them and the way they're utilized by law enforcement.
"People just don't want to be watched and have their privacy violated," said Steven Kung. "It's creepy and Orwellian."
He's one of many who joined the meeting Tuesday to voice their concerns about the camera system. Police say that despite public belief, they're not continuously recording residents.
"Vehicles that come into the city that are wanted, we want to catch them before they come into the city," said Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese.
Police called on the community to attend the meeting so they could address some of the misconceptions associated with Flock cameras. Instead of the constant surveillance that people assume comes with the system, Wiese says that they only take still photos of passing cars and store the license plate numbers. The data is retained for 30 days before it's deleted.
He also said that only Monterey Park PD officers and 911 dispatchers are able to access that information and search for a plate tied to a specific criminal offense. He also said that it's against California law for police to provide camera access to federal immigration officials.
Many questioned that statement, pointing towards recent reports that federal immigration agents have access to Flock camera data through out-of-state police departments who opt into data sharing. In February, Ventura County Sheriff's Office officials said that out-of-state agencies had accessed their license plate reader data more than 364,000 times.
"What is your system in case those people access our records? I mean, those aren't your guys, but you're still giving El Cajon our data," one person said during the meeting.
Wiese said that the system is set up to not allow direct information access to ICE, and that if an individual officer decides to break the law and use data illegally, then their police department would have to put a stop to it. He said those are rare cases that could potentially end in prosecution.
He also said that federal authorities would need to get a court order to get data from their Flock cameras, and that the department actively audits their system to make sure no one from out-of-state is trying to obtain information.
Los Angeles Police Department officers recently paused their use of Flock cameras, pointing towards civil liberty and civil rights concerns that they wanted to address before continuing their contract with Flock.
