Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers have become an increasingly common sight in Kansas City.
According to a Department of Justice study, these cameras are able to record up to 2000 license plates per minute. The data then becomes available to law enforcement agencies across the country..
“What makes Flock different is contractually these departments that use Flock can just join in this huge Flock network, so that it makes it very easy for departments anywhere in the country to search that data anywhere,” said KCUR reporter, Sam Zeff.
In just one 30-day period this year — between April 24 and June 24 — the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department database was queried almost 1.1 million times.
The most frequent searches were by officers from the Houston Police Department. Next, was the Dallas police with the California Highway Patrol third.
Local police departments maintain that automated license plate readers are a useful crime prevention tool. But increasingly, residents in communities across Kansas City are calling for more protection of their personal information..
Following public pushback, several metro area cities, including Parkville and Weston, have cancelled their contracts with Flock.
Meanwhile, the Lee’s Summit Police Department is drafting a Memorandum of Understanding, which would require outside police departments to agree to certain levels of data protection in order to access Flock data.
And Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe issued an executive order last week that limits how long Flock data can be stored..
- Sam Zeff, KCUR Reporter
