Almost 100 more Flock cameras to be installed across Edison, N.J., after council votes in favor
From busy highways to small neighborhood roads, police in Edison, New Jersey, will soon have more places to track vehicles entering and leaving the township.
Wednesday night in a 6-to-1 vote, Edison town officials gave the green light to install about 90 more Flock license plate readers. The township says it already has 20 Flock cameras.
"This is a great crime-fighting tool," Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan said. "As soon as a car comes into our township that is stolen, it alerts our patrol officers. We can track them much easier."
Flock operates a network of cameras across the country that capture license plates and uses artificial intelligence to identify vehicle information, then provides that data to its customers, which include law enforcement agencies.
The company says it can help police track down suspects, stolen cars and missing people.
"Residents really don't know too much about them except they're collecting data," Edison resident Anthony Deamorin said.
Critics question how the information will be used, who can access it and whether data to track plates could be misused.
Councilman Richard Brescher was the only one to vote no.
"It's technology that, you know, it's intrusive to the public. I don't want to be tracked. I don't want my family tracked," he said.
The company has come under fire recently amid a nationwide uproar over privacy concerns and alleged unauthorized searches in its database.
In August, Flock announced tighter controls, including reducing data storage from 30 days to seven. The system is now also flagging abnormal search behavior by police.
CBS News spoke with Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley in August.
"I think hindsight is a brutal tool," he said. "Of course, we could have done more earlier. And we listen, and we learn, and we'll continue to move forward."
Edison Township officials say the Flock cameras are not designed to issue speeding or traffic tickets, but to help police identify vehicles connected to crimes. They expect the new cameras to be up and running in six weeks.
