EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO) announced it will discontinue its use of Flock Safety cameras, effective immediately. <\/p>\n
According to EPSO, Flock will be sent a notice of non-renewal, and officials are asking Flock to retreive its equipment. EPSO Sheriff Joseph Roybal released a statement that reads:<\/p>\n
\u201cOur responsibility is to protect our community, foster public trust, and serve the people. After careful consideration, I believe discontinuing our use of Flock cameras is the right decision for El Paso County and our citizens.<\/p>\n
We have the tools, training, and experience to locate and apprehend criminals without relying on Flock cameras. Our commitment to public safety remains stronger than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flock Safety cameras, and Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) at large, have become a controversial topic in recent years. A poll by the National Policing Institute<\/a> shows that over 54% of adults oppose the use of the technology. 34% support it.<\/p>\n Last month, three flock cameras in El Paso County were cut down<\/a>. EPSO said at the time they were being investigated. <\/p>\n RELATED COVERAGE: Flock cameras damaged in El Paso County, week of action against ALPR cameras ahead<\/a><\/p>\n The city of Salida ended its use of flock cameras this year after residents voiced concerns over the equipment. <\/p>\n RELATED COVERAGE: Salida police cancel Flock Safety contract following resident concerns<\/a><\/p>\n An anti-Flock protest<\/a> was held outside of Pueblo City Hall last month as part of a national week of action against ALPR cameras. <\/p>\n RELATED COVERAGE: Pueblo community gathers for rally against Automatic License Plate Readers, Flock cameras<\/a><\/p>\n According to the organization\u00a0“Deflock” 153 communities nationwide<\/a> have ended their contracts with flock\u2026<\/p>\n Critics of ALPRs argue that the technology violates rights citizens have under the 4th Amendment. They also cite information that says the technology has wrongfully identified people in criminal investigations.<\/p>\n But supporters of the technology argue it helps to locate and arrest dangerous criminals. EPSO’s website lists several examples of how Flock Safety cameras helped them apprehend suspects.<\/a> One example EPSO has pointed to was the apprehension of\u00a0Johnny Rankin Morris and Hailey Cole<\/a>, who were each charged with first- and second-degree homicide.<\/p>\n It’s important to note not all ALPR cameras are Flock Safety cameras; several different brands are in use nationwide. The Colorado Springs Police Department says they use a company called Axon. <\/p>\n KRDO13 asked EPSO if it is ending its use of all ALPR technology or just its association with Flock Safety, and has not heard back as of Wednesday night. <\/p>\n Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store.<\/a> Android users can download it from Google Play here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO) announced it will discontinue its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[71550,138,1060,1536,140,139,19098,45689,90445,91554,155659],"class_list":["post-452877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-colo","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-county","tag-el-paso-county-sheriffs-office","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-flock","tag-flock-safety","tag-joseph-roybal","tag-pueblo","tag-salida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}