A Flock Safety camera on private property along Route 82 in Pine Plains, just south of the Columbia County line, is expected to be removed after the landowner asked Dutchess County law enforcement officials to take it down.
Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi told the Herald that his office and the Sheriff’s Office directed Flock Safety to remove the automated license plate reader (ALPR) from Michael George’s property on Aug. 18. County officials have since asked the company to expedite its removal, Parisi said.
Flock Safety schedules and performs the physical removal, a process Parisi said can take up to 30 days. Flock Safety did not respond to multiple requests from the Herald for comment.
“The camera remains active until removed,” Parisi said on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
George, a lifelong Pine Plains resident, told the Herald on Thursday that the ALPR sits near the boundary between property belonging to him and his father.
He said the device was installed last summer, around the time a culvert over Shekomeko Creek on Route 199 was being rebuilt and traffic was being detoured through the area.
The camera predates a separate Flock controversy that erupted in Pine Plains in February after the Herald reported that the town police and supervisor had pursued their own camera system without Town Board approval, ultimately leading officials to void an $80,000 contract with the company and adopt new oversight requirements. The Route 82 camera is part of a county law enforcement network and is not owned or controlled by the town.
George said someone from the Sheriff’s Office arrived in an unmarked vehicle and approached his family about putting a “safety camera” on the property.
“That was the extent of it,” George said.
The camera remained after the culvert was replaced and Route 199 reopened.
George said that Flock Safety itself wasn’t “even really discussed” and that he knew little about the company or how its national license plate reader network operated at the time.
He said neither he nor his father had signed an agreement but they had orally consented to having what was described to them as a “safety camera” installed. George also said he had never received compensation for hosting the camera, rejecting claims that had circulated on social media.
“I guess, more or less, it’s what you would say, a handshake agreement was,” George said. “We did not sign anything. There was no release.”
Parisi however said agreements between county law enforcement and private property owners who elect to host the cameras are in writing.
“The arrangements relating to the placement of these devices on private property are memorialized in writing,” Parisi said in an email. “They are not informal or verbal ‘handshake agreements,’ nor do they give ARTCIC the right to maintain a camera indefinitely over the objection of a property owner.”
George said he contacted the Sheriff’s Office twice this month seeking the camera’s removal.
“They tried to explain their side of it, but they said, you know, with the current circumstances, we understand and we’ll work on taking it down,” George said, who added that law enforcement officials indicated that they would seek another location for the device.
Flock Safety is the nation’s largest providers of automated license plate reader cameras. It operates more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states. The company sells license plate readers, video cameras, drones, and other technology to law enforcement agencies, businesses, neighborhood associations, and private individuals across the country.
Flock license plate readers are typically solar-powered and connected through cellular networks, capturing plates and other characteristics of passing vehicles and transmitting the information to Flock’s cloud-based platform.
The Route 82 device is the only Flock Safety camera operating in Pine Plains. It is part of the Analysis and Real Time Crime Intelligence Center, or ARTCIC, a joint public safety initiative of the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office. The Route 82 camera is one of many cameras situated on private property across Dutchess County.
In a March email exchange with the Herald, Parisi described the county’s arrangements with private property owners.
“Some LPRs or Cameras are privately owned, some are leased by ARTCIC and deployed on private property by agreement of the owner, and some may be preexisting camera systems owned by businesses and private parties in which they are sharing their video feeds with ARTCIC through a wing integration,” Parisi said.
The county’s online transparency portal reports 413 license plate readers and other cameras in use across the county. It lists the locations of 17.
County officials say withholding the locations of cameras on private property protects participating residents and businesses, preserves the integrity of investigations, and reduces the risk that the cameras could be targeted or circumvented.
Flock Safety has faced growing scrutiny nationwide from civil-liberties groups, elected officials, and some law enforcement agencies over the scope of its license plate reader network, the potential for misuse, and whether locally collected data can be accessed by federal authorities. The American Civil Liberties Union has argued that the company’s safeguards remain insufficient, while some municipalities have suspended their use of Flock amid privacy concerns.
Flock and Dutchess County officials have defended the technology as an effective public safety tool that helps to solve and prevent crime, and have said access to data is strictly controlled.
ARTCIC policies prohibit use of the system for immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement, harassment or intimidation, personal purposes, or searches based solely on a person’s protected characteristics such as race or sexual orientation.
At an Amenia Town Board meeting Aug. 20, Chief Deputy Stephen Reverri defended the county’s use of the cameras and described plans to continue building out the network.
“We want to surround Dutchess County to make sure Dutchess County is safe,” Reverri said.
He also identified schools as an area where county law enforcement hopes to expand its camera network.
“One of the priorities is those school districts and working with the school districts to get access with their cameras for emergency response, that is a big priority this year for the DA and myself,” Reverri said.
In a statement issued Wednesday, county officials announced a public forum on Flock technology with Parisi and Sheriff Kirk Imperati. It is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sept. 23 at Pleasant Valley Town Hall.
“We have had many constituents share concerns over the use of Flock and this forum will provide real information and clarity,” County Legislature Chair Yvette Valdés Smith (D-16) said in the statement.
Parisi, in the same statement, made clear that those concerns have not diminished his support for the technology.
“Sheriff Imperati and I have a responsibility to protect the people of Dutchess County, and we will not hesitate to use effective, lawful technology that helps us identify dangerous offenders, solve crimes, and prevent further victimization,” Parisi said.
He said law enforcement officials were prepared to answer difficult questions and address concerns about civil liberties.
“What we will not do is allow fear or misunderstanding of technology to prevent law enforcement from using responsible tools that make our communities safer,” Parisi said. “Public safety and civil liberties are both fundamental obligations, and our commitment is to protect both.”
Good for Michael! His story underscores the nature of these entities putting cameras up. They are omitting important details regarding their usage to trusting property owners who believe they are doing something beneficial for local police agencies.