‘The response has been overwhelmingly opposed’: Another Northern Kentucky city announces removal of Flock cameras
INDEPENDENCE, Ky. —
Another Northern Kentucky community has announced the immediate removal of license plate readers, also known as Flock cameras, after public backlash.
Independence Mayor Chris Reinersman says in a statement that, “after much consideration,” all Flock cameras in the city will be removed.
The mayor’s decision comes after a public meeting was held last Monday in the Independence City Council chambers.
“I want to be clear that my position on the cameras themselves has not changed,” Reinersman says in his statement announcing the removal of the cameras. “I continue to believe our original decision to utilize this technology was a sound one. I do not believe the cameras pose the threat to personal privacy or potential for widespread abuse that has sometimes been portrayed, particularly on social media.
“More importantly, they have proven their value on multiple occasions over the past few years as an effective tool for our law enforcement officers, with none of the feared consequences,” Reinersman continued saying. “At the same time, good government requires more than simply making the decision we believe is best. It also requires listening to the people we were elected to serve.
“We made a concerted effort to inform residents about this issue, provide opportunities for public discussion, and encourage community input…The response has been overwhelmingly opposed to the continued use of the cameras, with very limited public support expressed for keeping them.”
Reinersman also says some city councilmembers have expressed their opposition to the continued use of Flock cameras, both privately and publicly.
The mayor ends his statement by reiterating his support for the program, but says, due to the public outcry against them, the city of Independence will immediately begin the process of removing the cameras.
Independence is the latest Northern Kentucky jurisdiction to end the use of Flock cameras. Last week, Fort Mitchell announced they were also removing Flock cameras from the city.
Last month, Newport decided to abandon its Flock camera program after pushback from the community.
The city of Oxford became the first Ohio community in Greater Cincinnati to announce it had voted to end its Flock camera program last week.
Amid public backlash, the company behind Flock cameras announced it is making changes in response to privacy concerns.
Those include reducing the default data retention period from 30 days to seven, and making misuse detection mandatory for every customer.