Columbia Police Department to introduce license plate reading Flock camera system

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Police Department will present its plan to the Columbia City Council to contract with Flock Safety to install security cameras throughout the city.

This plan has been in the works since late July after the Columbia City Council rejected a previous security camera system in November 2022 following community pushback.

Since then, the Columbia Police Department invited the community to multiple presentations on Aug. 14 and Aug. 15 for the new proposed system called Flock Safety.

According to Columbia City Council documents, the Flock Safety camera system comprises various cameras with license plate recognition abilities. The cameras would be placed on streets and intersections to capture data on vehicles used to commit crimes.

In the memo, the Flock Safety cameras will be able to notify police the moment a suspect vehicle enters an area. License plates also give clear direction in investigations and would also reduce the risk of bias and false identification, supporters say.

"The police department, they’re shorthanded, you know," Fifth Ward Councilman Donald Waterman said. "This just basically allows for coverage of areas that we can’t physically cover with the police officer."

The cameras would be for vehicles and do not use facial recognition technology. Data captured by the system will be stored and secured through the Columbia Police Department and will be deleted from the system after 30 days if not used for a case. The data will also not be used for traffic laws like speeding or parking violations.

Each ward will receive multiple cameras. 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

There will also be 13 additional license plate reader cameras placed in various parks and on trails by Columbia Parks and Recreation.

The Blue Springs Police Department, located near Kansas City, has been using Flock Security for around a year and a half. They first did a pilot program with the system on Jan. 23 with 24 cameras and has success with finding stolen vehicles and a missing person in the first few months.

"It's been very successful," Lt. Brandon Claxton said. "We were able to use the flock safety cameras in a homicide investigation, all within just the first couple of months, and so it was pretty easy to decide to go forward with that system after after just the pilot program."

During the August meetings, community members wer e shown a draft of the plan and an informational packet and encouraged to leave comments on cards in person as well as online on BeHeardCoMo.

Opinions varied with positive reviews commenting on a want for increased safety and support of the police department while critics had questions about privacy concerns and worries that the data may be used in malicious ways.

Back in August, Anthony Willroth of Hold CoMo Accountable raised concerns about the cameras being used to track individuals based on their personal choices, including those related to health care.

When asked about this Claxton said that his department does routine checks in the system to track which officers search for what and how frequently they look.

"To my knowledge, there haven't been any situations that that I know of as far as being used to track people crossing state lines or something like that or anything non criminally related," Claxton said.

The system would be financed through general fund reserves and the CPD budget. The initial cost of the contract would be $539,400 for the first year then $476,000 annually. The Columbia Parks and Recreation Department will pay $45,450 initially, then $39,000 annually.

First Ward Councilwoman Valerie Carroll has concerns, but as the council is still receiving information and testimony from the police and the community, she will be keeping an open mind during the upcoming public hearing process.

According to Waterman, the Columbia City Council will be hosting a public hearing on the system in October and vote then.