More license plate readers are being installed in the Ozarks. Is this a good thing?
Seventy percent of crimes in the United States involve the use of a vehicle, according to the International Chiefs of Police, and a vehicle is often the key piece in a police investigation.
Since the introduction of Flock cameras — also known as automated license plate readers — several crimes in the Ozarks have been solved faster.
The cameras' image quality and data sharing ability have improved, according to police departments, and costs for the devices are down.
Now they're just about everywhere in Springfield and surrounding communities.
Springfield has been using the Flock cameras for several years and the department said the real-time alerts sent when the cameras flag a suspicious vehicle have helped investigators piece together cases and prevent several crimes, ranging from car theft to murder. They're also used in missing persons and emergency Amber alert cases.
In April, Springfield police said a Flock camera — a much different device than a traffic camera, according to the company, in that it doesn't record speed — helped police locate suspects involved in the killing of teenager Lavelle Rose III.
The solar-powered cameras capture license plates and the general appearance of vehicles, not people or faces, according to Flock, which has its cameras in thousands of American cities.
Cities using Flock's license plate readers have seen up to a 70% reduction in crime, according to the company, inspiring communities like Branson and Nixa to recently implement the technology.
Branson police said eight of its new cameras were installed around the tourist town earlier this year, leading to several arrests. Nixa police announced last week the department has four new Flock cameras.
Nixa, one of the fast-growing towns in Missouri with an estimated population nearing 25,000, is widely considered a safe community. Nixa Police Major Chad Tennis wants to keep it that way and believes Flock cameras will help.
“We are very progressive and always looking for tools to improve our efficiency and effectiveness through the use of technology to fight crime here,” Tennis said.
More: After two deadliest years in Springfield, homicides dropped in 2022
Each investigative or missing persons search using Flock requires a justification, according to the company, which says that the data it uses is never sold nor shared with third parties.
The cameras are not without detractors.
While police believe the technology is primarily for the safety of citizens, critics believe the cameras contribute to a mass national surveillance system and are a form of overreach and invasion of privacy.
A 2022 report by the ACLU noted Flock cameras are "dangerously powerful" and are also being used by private businesses and homeowners associations.
"Flock is already building an unprecedented, public-private, distributed-yet-centralized surveillance machine," the ACLU said in its Flock report. "All the risks posed by such a machine will only grow if the company expands its offerings from ALPR to traditional surveillance cameras and to advanced new forms of behavioral analytics."
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Flock license plate readers are being installed in across the Ozarks
