Moline Police Ending Contract With Flock Safety

The highly debated Flock cameras will be no more in Moline.

Flock cameras are being vandalized all over the country. Indianola scrapped them in August, they're all over the Quad Cities, and that's not going over well with everyone, as Get The Flock Out QC is one local anti-ALPR camera site.

But one main Quad City is getting rid of them.

Basics of the cameras: Flock cameras take pictures of passing cars that are logged into databases. But unlike normal cameras, Flock cameras can remember things like bumper stickers, unusual marks on the car, and AI technology in it allows it to track the cars.

The main controversy for Flock cameras: supporters of them say they help find missing persons, recover stolen cars, and help solve crimes faster. But opponents argue that the ALPR cameras (Automated License Plate Readers) are an invasion of privacy without a warrant and documented cases show them being used to trace people's exes.

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Now, police in Moline are putting their contract with Flock Safety on pause for it's 9 cameras in the city.

Moline Chief of Police Darren Gault decided that keeping the Flock Safety fixed ALPR cameras don't quite hit the balance the police want between "public safety value of networked ALPR" and "maintaining public confidence in its use". He said:

This is not a rejection of ALPR technology or its value to law enforcement. Our community expects us to use effective tools to prevent and solve crime and bring justice to victims. The public also expects thoughtful and responsible decision-making when law enforcement uses technology capable of collecting and sharing information. I believe those interests can coexist, but our responsibility is to continually evaluate where that balance should be.

The Flock cameras will be fully deactivated within 14 days.

Over the summer in the Quad Cities alone, 8 Flock cameras were vandalized.