‘Nexus of safety and privacy’: Columbia’s new surveillance cameras raises debate on safety vs. privacy

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Following Monday’s City Council vote, more than 100 new surveillance cameras will be coming to Columbia.

The council voted 5-2 in favor of signing a contract with Flock Group, Inc. for new cameras that will be spread across Downtown Columbia, each of the city's six wards, several parks as well as the highways and interstates just outside the city. 

The cameras will cost the city $539,400 in the first year, which covers the cost of installation and maintenance, and then $476,00 annually thereafter.  The money comes from the general fund reserves to the police budget. The Parks and Recreation Department portion of the contract will cost $45,450 for the first year (installation included) and then $39,000 each year after. 

Flock Safety cameras are designed to capture images of license plates under various conditions, including nighttime and severe weather, according to its website. The cameras use Automatic License Plate Readers to provide real-time alerts to law enforcement. The data can be shared between multiple law enforcement agencies to help with investigations. 

It was a large investment from the city after the police department began a months-long process to acquire the cameras. This included hosting several public listening sessions in August and collecting public feedback online. 

“So much of where police, I think, have gone awry is not that they want to have cameras in communities but that they didn't talk to the community before they put in cameras,” Seth Fallik, the chair of the University of Missouri Kansas City’s Department of Criminal Justice Criminology, said. “Simply having that line of communication, I think you would see that many communities are welcoming of that level of public security that law enforcement provides,  but they just want to be consulted on it. They don't want to feel like they're being targeted.” 

While the city gave residents time to give feedback, council memos never make any mention of any study done by the city to prove the cameras' effectiveness, something that was concerning to Attorney Dan Viets, who was one of the most vocal critics of the cameras leading up to the vote. 

“I hope the council decides to require some real evidence of effectiveness before they spend half a million dollars of our tax money,” Viets said the day of the vote. “Whether they solve crime or whether they prevent crime is totally speculation at this point. There is no objective there's no independent evidence of that. There are no studies.  There's no analysis outside of the company itself,  which shows that they really do any good. “ 

ABC 17 News reached out to the city to see if any independent study was ever conducted, but did not receive a response.

Viets believes that the cameras bring the city one step closer to George Orwell’s "1984" with “Big Brother” always watching. Other residents expressed concerns during Monday’s public hearing about their data being accessible for other agencies outside of Columbia. 

“You're at the nexus of safety and privacy, right? And so understanding the trade-off that's going to have for greater safety is going to have a compromise on our privacy with cameras in general,” Fallik said. “I think folks are rightfully concerned about who is able to do what with their data or the images of themselves. What we've learned from the Supreme Court is a couple of things. One, public spaces, you don't have a right to privacy in public spaces, and it's reversing public thoroughfare. You're out at a park that's a public space, and your privacy standards have been eroded or at least lowered.”

Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude told ABC 17 News after Monday’s council meeting that she was aware of some of the privacy concerns of citizens.  

"I think it actually affects me personally because I’m the one who advocated for this very publicly. I am not naïve. I don't think I can catch every single thing that happens,” Schlude said.  “The idea is, though, to set up a system where there is a fear that your name number is going to get drawn or that your queries are going to get looked at. And that's kind of a deterrent effect.” 

A deterrent effect is one of the key talking points used by Flock. Data that was presented to the public in August to support adding the cameras included law enforcement agencies reporting 50% more resignations between 2019-22. Flock also claims 65% of police departments reported having too few sworn officers, and more vehicle threats between 2022-23. 

“One big challenge we have right now in Columbia is thefts from automobiles and the clearance rate on those is low; because unless somebody is there and sees you stealing from a vehicle, it's hard later to identify who the suspect is,” Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson said. “This kind of technology could really help officers identify who's out there committing these types of crimes.” 

Flock also pointed to higher crime rates, citing an 8.8% reduction in violent crime clearance rates since 2019. 

“In terms of the crime rate, I think if you look at it closely, as in the last five years or so, if they’re looking at just that period maybe we're seeing a slight uptick. But when we just step back and look at the last couple of decades we’re actually at all-time lows,” Fallik said. 

While crime rates may be down, staffing continues to be an issue for CPD. Johnson believes the cameras will be a useful tool for the department but won’t make up for the issue. 

“I think overall, the number of officers we have at the police department, it's a major public safety concern right now because the officers are working very hard and I think doing a good job. But they're stretched thin,” Johnson said. 

More than 200 law enforcement agencies already use Flock Technology in Missouri. All data captured on the cameras is accessible for 30 days and can be shared with other departments to assist with investigations. Jefferson City and Fulton are two cities that currently use the technology. Fulton Police Chief Bill Ladwig said his department has already had success tracking down stolen vehicles, thanks to the cameras. Fulton went into an agreement with Flock in February.

“So far, it’s been completely positive for us,” Ladwig said. “What people need to keep in mind, is we are not collecting pictures of people.” 

Ladwig added that the cameras can also be used to help exonerate innocent people accused of a crime. 

CPD laid out a plan that would include replacing the five Downtown security cameras with live feed cameras from Flock that can pan, tilt and zoom. Thirteen license plate reader cameras would be spread out across Albert-Oakland Park, the Garth Nature area, the Cosmopolitan Recreational area, the MTK trail and the Gans Creek Recreational Area. Eight license plate reader cameras will also be placed on Highway 63 with eight more on Interstate 70. 

The highway cameras are something that Johnson says has been an effective tool in the past. 

“For years, we had a license plate camera on Interstate 70, and they caught a lot of stolen cars with people driving on the interstate. We've also seen cases where officers were able to make a DWI (arrest) because they identified a vehicle leaving the scene, they're able to figure out where the vehicle is and then find that the person left the scene because they were intoxicated,” Johnson said.  “There are some kinds of cases that we've seen, just really good results as a result of this type of technology.  We also seen here here locally, there was a very serious sex offense... The cameras were involved in identifying the suspect.  But on top of that, a large amount of crime, and not just violent crime is related to automobiles.” 

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Each ward will also receive a handful of cameras and intersection packages from Flock. An intersection package consists of four license plate reading cameras and two fixed live-feed cameras. Here is the breakdown by ward. 

• Ward 1:
  • 3 Intersection packages
  • 0 license plate readers
• Ward 2:
  • 2 Intersection packages 
  • 4 license plate readers
• Ward 3:
  • 3 intersection packages
  • 2 license plate readers
• Ward 4
  • 3 intersection packages
  • 0 license plate readers
• Ward 5
  • 1 intersection package
  • 2 license plate readers 
• Ward 6
  • 2 intersection packages 
  • 4 license plate readers

The Columbia City Council held a vote on a different camera system in 2022. The council voted against using Fusus 4-3.