Brookline debate grows over police access to private license‑plate camera data from Chestnut Hill Realty

Brookline police officials urged the Select Board to accept a memorandum of understanding that would give the department timely access to license‑plate reader data from cameras installed on Chestnut Hill Realty property, saying alerts tied to warrants or stolen vehicles could help investigators and prevent crimes.

Chief of Police (Acting) Rebecca Pastor told the board the department has used fixed and town‑owned camera systems since 2009 and described several internal protections and a draft policy limiting uses and retention. "These cameras will not capture facial images, and our department will not use them for facial recognition or any other unauthorized surveillance," Pastor said during the board meeting.

The vendor, Flock Safety, described the technical approach: cameras record plate text and short video clips; a cloud service generates alerts when a…