LONG BEACH, Miss. (WLOX) — Tensions flared at the Long Beach Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday as residents spoke out against surveillance cameras in the city.
The agenda item, brought forward by Ward 3 Alderman Joey Giuffria, was listed as a discussion about Flock cameras. Giuffria said he used “Flock Cameras” as a generic term for license plate readers.
Ten license plate readers are in use by the Long Beach Police Department, but the company that makes them is Genetec, not Flock Safety.
Giuffria said he brought the topic to a discussion in order to address concerns from citizens.
“I want to know- are there guardrails put up to prevent some of the cases that some of the people were speaking about tonight where systems can be abused? So, we want to make sure. So, we want to make sure that what we use, or if we’re using them, it’s being done the correct way, and the way it is intended to be used,” Giuffria said.
Resident Adele Prater spoke at the meeting.
“I will be 83 years old soon. I do not believe in being tracked or followed by anyone. I don’t intend to break the law; I haven’t,” Prater said. “I wasn’t born into a police state, and I don’t want to die in one.”
Giuffria said that after further research and discussion, the question could then be asked whether or not license plate readers should or should not stay.
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