Who would be watching? Lakeland police want to put surveillance cameras on city roads
LAKELAND — Officials are expected to vote Monday on whether to install automated cameras on city roads to serve as a second set of eyes for police.
City commissioners will consider whether to install automatic license plate readers throughout Lakeland in addition to extending its red-light camera program for another five years.
"This will really help us leverage technology a lot more in the city and give us a good investigative tool citywide," Hans Lehman, assistant chief at Lakeland Police Department, told commissioners at Friday's agenda study.
If approved, the city will rent 19 automatic license plate readers, commonly called ALPRs, through Verra Mobility. Verra Mobility obtains these solar-powered cameras through the subcontractor Flock Group Inc., publicly known as Flock Safety.
Flock Safety is an Atlanta-based company that sells automatic license plate detection readers. Its website says more than 2,000 law enforcement agencies across the nation deploy its cameras in more than 2,500 communities. Flock Safety claims its cameras help reduce crime by more than 70%.
Flock Safety's website lays out in detail that its cameras have a patented "Vehicle Fingerprint" technology that collects visual, environmental and contextual information about vehicles it scans including:
Timestamp and geolocation.
Vehicle type, make, color and license plate.
Any unique features such as a roof rack, bumper and window stickers.
The number of times a particular vehicle has been seen in the past 30 days.
Any "associated vehicles."
Lehman said information gathered by these automated license plate readers can be useful in solving certain crimes such as a localized retail theft ring.
What's the cost?
The proposed contract lays out the city will pay $250 per month per camera in addition to a one-time $350 installation fee. The total cost for 19 cameras will be $57,000 a year, or $285,000 over the five-year contract. It will be funded by the city's red-light camera program.
Polk County Sheriff's Office has installed an unknown number of Flock's plate readers on county roads since 2021. The Sheriff's Office repeatedly redacted the number of cameras it has purchased in The Ledger's public-information requests citing Florida's Sunshine Laws.
Documents obtained from the Sheriff's Office indicate it pays "$2,000 per camera per year, or current market pricing if lower" in addition to the one-time implementation fee. The contract agreement allows the county to extend the offer to its contracted local municipal law enforcement agencies.
By comparison, Lakeland's proposed contract would have it paying $3,000 a year per camera. It's unclear whether Lakeland could potentially save money by piggybacking on the county's contract.
Controversy over Flock Safety's cameras
Commissioner Chad McLeod asked whether the automatic license plate readers are being used by other cities. Lehman said that some cities have dozens of cameras, without mentioning that in some areas it's been a topic of legal controversy.
Florida law enforcement agencies have come under fire for using automated license plate readers, including Flock Safety's system.
Nearby, Lake County commissioners ordered the Lake County Sheriff's Office to remove 100 Flock Safety cameras installed as part of a pilot program in August 2021, as Click Orlando reported. The cameras were installed to assist with Amber Alerts or vehicle thefts. But commissioners said it was "shocking," that many of them didn't know the cameras were in place.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida published an online guide "How to Pump the Brakes on Your Police Department's Use of Flock's Mass Surveillance License Plate Readers" in February, citing Flock as the first company to create a nationwide mass-surveillance system.Video footage and data gathered by Flock Safety's cameras are uploaded onto the company's own software database and by default stores it for 30 days before deleting it. This central database is searchable by "authorized end users," such as Lakeland's police detectives, who can also set up a "hot list" and receive alerts when a certain vehicle passes a camera.
These Flock cameras are also sold to schools, neighborhood homeowner associations and even small businesses as parking lot security.
It's unclear how long data gathered in Lakeland will be retained, as agencies can request a contract that shortens the data-retention period. The Ledger asked whether the city will attempt to negotiate a special contract with Flock, and spokeswoman Officer Stephanie Kerr said the topic would be discussed with Lehman early next week.
Changes to red-light cameras
The city's new contract with Verra Mobility would bring two major changes to its red-light camera program.
'Missing violations' Lakeland police want to extend red-light cameras, add tag readers
One of the cameras monitoring the northbound travel lane of South Florida Avenue where it crosses Beacon Road would be removed, and will be installed monitoring westbound traffic on George Jenkins Boulevard where it crosses Kathleen Road.
A new red-light running camera will be installed at North Florida Avenue and East Parker Street. Tess Schwartz, Lakeland's manager of traffic operations, said this location has had roughly the same number of crashes as George Jenkins Boulevard at Kathleen Road in the past five years.
What's next?
Lakeland commissioners will meet to vote on the contract 9 a.m. Monday morning at City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave.
Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland police want surveillance cameras. But who controls the data?
