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                    "A Flock Safety camera is pictured in this Adobe Stock photo. While there are no Flock-branded cameras in the Golden Triangle, area law enforcement agencies use cameras equipped with similar automatic license plate reading capabilities.\t\n\t\t\tEditor\u2019s note: Do you want answers to questions about the Golden Triangle? Each week, Dispatch reporters set out to explain or update a timely, practical issue. Email your question to [email\u00a0protected].\nAs national conversations about Flock cameras span from a growing number installed across the country and the potential misuse of license plate data, users in local Facebook groups, including in \u201cColumbus MS (What\u2019s Going On),\u201d are also debating whether the cameras are being used in the Golden Triangle.\nOn both levels, national open-source mapping projects deflock.org and dontgetflocked.com are floated to show residents where to find ALPR cameras in their cities. These maps do show cameras in Columbus, but city officials say they are not Flock cameras.\nWhat are Flock cameras? What, exactly, do they do? Are they in our communities? And what are local law enforcement agencies using them for?\nWhat are they?\nFlock Safety is a brand of artificial intelligence-powered ALPR cameras that record and track passing vehicles, capturing photos of each one that drives past. According to Flock\u2019s website, there are 120,000 cameras operating across 49 states, sending data to a shared cloud database that is occasionally shared across jurisdictions.\nThe AI algorithms note specific features like bumper stickers, roof racks, dents and scratches, often turning these into searchable data points. Every photo records the exact timestamp and geographic location, building a travel history for the vehicle.\nThe cameras collect data regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime. Flock is not the only ALPR vendor, with other vendors collecting data similarly.\nAre they here?\nAccording to area law enforcement and city governments, there are currently no Flock brand cameras in Starkville or Columbus. Instead, agencies in both cities use Motorola Solutions cameras, which like Flock Safety cameras, capture vehicle license plate data and specific vehicle traits in real time using AI.\nStarkville Police Chief Mark Ballard confirmed the city currently has four Motorola cameras \u2013 though the city recently approved adding five new cameras in their most recent budget meeting at a cost of $27,500.\nCapt. Brett Watson, with Oktibbeha County Sheriff\u2019s Office, said the agency does not specifically use Flock or Motorola cameras, but there are ALPR cameras in the county. He did not provide the number.\nMayor Stephen Jones confirmed Columbus has three Motorola Solutions ALPR cameras, and the city also has 25 total Project N.O.L.A. cameras operating throughout the city, along with five \u201cSky Cop\u201d cameras monitoring crime hot spots. These cameras have ALPR technology as well as gun-shot detection, night vision and live facial recognition.\nSheriff Eddie Hawkins said Lowndes County owns about 24 Motorola cameras, but they are not always used at the same time. His office can move the cameras as needed. He said the locations of the cameras are decided using crime and traffic data.\nWhat are they used for?\n\u201c(The cameras) are investigative tools,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cThis technology is designed to assist law enforcement in identifying vehicles that are associated with criminal activity. This could include stolen vehicles or wanted persons, missing persons and vehicles that are connected to ongoing investigations.\u201d\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tEddie Hawkins\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\nSheriff Hawkins emphasized the cameras are not being used to target \u201claw-abiding citizens.\u201d\nHe said that his department has seen a \u201ctremendous decrease in violent crime and property thefts,\u201d and that the cameras have helped LCSO locate perpetrators in several cases, including at least two murder cases. In another instance the cameras helped locate a man who abandoned a baby at Baptist-Memorial Hospital Golden Triangle. They\u2019ve also been used during Amber Alerts and Silver Alerts.\n\u201cThis system doesn\u2019t replace traditional police work,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cWe use it as information. The deputies will still have to go out and verify the information and conduct their own investigation accordingly.\u201d\nNews outlets have reported that private neighborhoods and homeowners associations use the systems to monitor traffic and investigate crimes, but SPD, Columbus Police Department and LCSO confirmed they do not share the data with any private businesses.\n\u201cThere\u2019s a commercial side and law enforcement side,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cWe do not share data with any private industries.\u201d\nColumbus Police Chief Garland Ward confirmed that his agency does not share information with federal agencies, such as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a subpoena.\nWho has access to the data?\nAn ongoing review of media reports and public records compiled by the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm, has identified dozens of cases nationwide of officers allegedly abusing ALPR data to keep tabs on romantic interests, exes and occasionally strangers.\nBoth county and city officials said officers\u2019 access to camera data is limited. CPD\u2019s Ward said only administrators have access and their usage is monitored strictly.\nThe situation is similar at LCSO and SPD.\n\u201cNot all investigative personnel have access to the system,\u201d said Hawkins, in regards to deputy access. \u201cWe don\u2019t want deputies to misuse this information and go out there searching randomly.\u201d\nCPD, SPD and LCSO are each working toward putting policies in place to guide the usage of the cameras, and Ward, Ballard and Hawkins, respectively, confirmed the departments are creating orders that include what disciplinary action, including possible termination, that would be taken if an officer was found to be abusing the technology.\nStarkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said there are already specific protocols and procedures in place that ensure the cameras are being used appropriately. Because Starkville lacks the funding to have a \u201c100-person police department,\u201d she said the cameras have made a big difference when large populations come to town for events.\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tLynn Spruill\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\n\u201cIf people aren\u2019t feeling safe, then they\u2019re not coming to our community,\u201d she said. \u201cI want people to know that when they come here, when they bring their children here to live during their school years, that they\u2019ll have a safe experience, and that\u2019s the focus.\u201d\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n      \n      \n        Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.\n      \n    \n\n\t\t\t\n      \n      \n        Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community."
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