“Every time you give a bunch of workers access to a database like this, there is going to be the temptation for them to search it for personal ends.”
By Rebecca Johnson and Lila Hempel-Edgers | Chicago Tribune
The new headlines seem to pop up daily.
The Flock cameras were allegedly used by a former sheriff’s deputy in Wisconsin’s Kenosha County to stalk his then-girlfriend, who also worked as a deputy sheriff. In McHenry County, a police chief allegedly searched their vast network of automated cameras nearly 250 times to track former romantic partners and others connected to them.
In northwest Indiana, three misuse cases emerged in just one week, while officers in Bloomingdale, West Chicago, Itasca and Channahon have been put on administrative leave for alleged improper use.
Automated license plate readers — increasingly synonymous with Flock, though there are other brands on the market — photograph the license plates and other identifiers of passing vehicles. Police officers are then able to search and share the data for investigations.
But a growing number of cops throughout the Chicago area and across the country have been accused of searching those databases for personal reasons. Civil liberties activists too are alarmed that law enforcement departments could use the cameras to work with immigration officials or surveil ordinary citizens.
As allegations of misuse mount, police departments and lawmakers are grappling with what must be done to prevent wrongdoing.
Suburban police chiefs told the Tribune safeguards are necessary, but that the cameras remain invaluable tools in solving — or even stopping — crime. Meanwhile, Illinois state lawmakers are proposing new restrictions and towns are adjusting or canceling contracts. Passionate neighbors, in a rare moment of bipartisanship, are pushing to do away with the technology entirely.
“Every time you give a bunch of workers access to a database like this, there is going to be the temptation for them to search it for personal ends,” said Matthew Kugler, a law professor at Northwestern University.
“This is why hospitals do so much HIPAA training,” Kugler added, referring to federal patient privacy regulation. “The way you stop it is through training and auditing and controls.”
Report continues here.
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