SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — More license plate-reading cameras will soon be installed all over Spokane County.
On Tuesday night, the Spokane County Board of Commissioners gave the Sheriff’s Office the green light to install dozens of additional flock cameras across the county.
Flock cameras photograph the license plates of every passing vehicle and send the information to a law enforcement database.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office already has over 50 types of cameras with license plate-reading capabilities placed throughout the county.
In the last 30 days, SCSO said it has been able to use the cameras to detect over 900 cars on their ‘hotlist’ – cars reported as stolen or registered to someone with a warrant out for their arrest.
“We can look for individuals who have specific warrants, and we can put those in the system,” said Lt. Justin Elliott of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s just one of the many layers of technology that we have to help make Spokane safer.”
Despite the positive support from law enforcement, expansion of the surveillance technology has raised privacy concerns. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington voiced opposition to the widespread use of these cameras.
“People should be able to go about their lives without being extensively tracked and surveilled,” the ACLU of Washington stated. “This data captures an extensive amount of information about people and can be used to track where they go and make inferences about their activities.”
Critics worry that without proper regulation, the cameras could create a mass surveillance system capable of tracking residents’ daily movements throughout the county.
SCSO said that strict policies are in place to ensure the data collected is used exclusively for law enforcement purposes.
“Bottom line is they’re extremely effective,” said Elliott. “And it gives us the ability to respond with precision policing.”
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office isn’t alone in adopting this technology. Both Spokane Valley and the City of Spokane are also in the process of installing Flock cameras in their jurisdictions.
The cameras are expected to be installed at the various approved locations over the coming months.
For more information on SCSO’s Flock cameras, click HERE.
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