EAST PEORIA, Ill. – The first step in adding more automatic license plate reader cameras was taken Tuesday night in East Peoria.
The city council is considering a proposal to add ten cameras from Flock Safety to its existing program. The total cost of adding the cameras would be $156,500.
A first vote was passed unanimously, with a second vote expected at the city council’s next meeting.
Before the vote and council discussion, 16 people in a roughly 45-minute public comment session raised their concerns about the usage of Flock cameras in general in East Peoria. Most were residents of East Peoria, with some coming from Peoria and Pekin to give comments.
Travis Bankson of East Peoria was one of those who spoke.
“I’m not going to disagree that Flock is a useful investigative tool. Of course, there are anecdotal success stories of using mass surveillance tools to solve crimes,” Bankson said. “But usefulness alone does not make it ethical or Constitutional.”
Bankson was one of many in public comment who spoke out about the technology being a 4th Amendment violation. Others had concerns about police potentially misusing the information gathered for personal benefit, the data being sold to third parties, and whether license plate reader cameras actually help reduce crime.
Police Chief David Catton addressed some of those concerns in questioning by Commissioner Seth Mingus.
Catton told the council that they do not surveil people with the technology, and the cameras have no way of telling where a person is currently at. He says the technology only takes pictures of a rear license plate, which could make it difficult to take a picture of a vehicle’s driver.
In another answer, Catton says courts have ruled in favor of the Constitutionality of the technology. He added that cameras on Illinois’ tollways gather more information by taking pictures of the drivers.
Catton also says the department has measures in place to hold people accountable if they abuse the system. He says that includes regular checks and audits, and that no officer has abused the system in the four years East Peoria has used it.
Mingus then spoke on his thoughts about the technology and its usage in East Peoria. He told the crowd and fellow commissioners that the cameras are only pointed at public streets, and there’s no expectation of privacy on public streets.
Mingus added that he trusts the police in East Peoria to not abuse the system, while acknowledging that the potential was there. But he says his yes vote was to give police a tool needed to fight crime.
“I want our police officers to have the ability to protect this community, and that includes protecting my family, and your family,” Mingus said.
