By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Cities and police departments across the state have announced plans in recent weeks to take down their license plate reader cameras, citing concerns about privacy and misuse.
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Retired police chief Scott Hughes said the decision is a mistake.
“I think you are definitely going to have cases that aren’t going to be closed, going to have victims who will never get closure on their case, have missing folks perhaps who aren’t going to be found,” Hughes said.
Officials say cameras have solved hundreds of cases
Arizona’s Family reached out to a number of police chiefs and city leaders, who said the Flock cameras are an essential tool for protecting the public.
Goodyear City Council member Trey Terry said hundreds of cases, ranging from road rage to home invasion to carjacking, have been solved with help from the cameras.
“You have kids being recovered from kidnapping shortly after it happened, or when worse things happen- murder, burglary- those criminals are being brought to justice with the assistance of this tool,” Terry said.
A recent Flock audit shows how often police agencies in Arizona used the license plate readers over a 30-day period in July and August:
- Drugs and narcotics: 8,538
- Motor vehicle theft: 5,093
- Wanted person/fugitive: 4,498
- Traffic infractions: 3,799
- Assault and battery: 3,675
Backlash follows reports of misuse
The latest backlash over Flock cameras comes after a number of agencies revealed officers had misused the system to look up people for personal reasons.
A total of 11 Arizona cities have decided to no longer use the cameras.
Casa Grande Police Chief Mark McCrory said eliminating the cameras because of some officers’ misconduct is not a good idea.
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“It’s not the technology that’s been failing here, it’s individual decisions that have been failing,” he said. “In my opinion, that’s how you have to treat this, treat that individual as making a bad choice for whatever reason and get that individual out of law enforcement.”
Police chiefs call for new safeguards
Apache Junction Police Chief Mike Pooley said agencies need to do a better job protecting data from the cameras and said new state laws would help.
“We know these guardrails need to go in. We’re for that. We want this technology. We don’t want it to ever be abused,” Pooley said. “We want the technology to be around to help us locate individuals committing crimes, help us find people who are missing.”
Some law enforcement agencies have not ruled out bringing the cameras back at a later date after privacy concerns are addressed. Until then, many police departments will have to go back to solving cases without them.
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