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Lewiston PD pilots cloud‑based Flock license‑plate readers; public raises privacy questions
Summary
The police department described a 60‑day Flock LPR pilot with seven cameras deployed, cloud storage (21‑day retention) and CJIS controls; public commenters and several councilors expressed concern about access, MOUs with other agencies and audit policies; staff said a formal policy and audit process are in draft.
The Lewiston Police Department briefed the City Council on Oct. 21 about a 60‑day pilot of Flock license‑plate reader (LPR) cameras deployed around the city.
Sgt. Joy Brown said seven of a planned 14 portable solar‑powered cameras had been installed and that images are uploaded to a CJIS‑compliant cloud platform where the software digitizes license‑plate characters and allows searches by plate, vehicle descriptors and date ranges. Data retention on the platform is 21 days. Brown said access to the cloud platform is restricted to authorized law‑enforcement users and that the department is drafting a written policy and audit procedures for searches and external data sharing.
Councilors and public commenters asked how the system handles person‑level data, who outside agencies can access Lewiston’s feed, whether the platform includes facial‑recognition features and how audit logs are collected. Brown said the cameras capture vehicle license plates rather than faces, the platform’s search functions operate on vehicle descriptors, and the department controls access and can establish MOUs with vetted partner agencies. She added that the system can send alerts (for Amber Alerts, stolen vehicles, etc.) to authorized users when a matching plate is captured.
Some members of the public urged the council to halt further deployments pending public release of the draft policy and a list of agencies with access. Others said LPRs are vital crime‑fighting tools for locating stolen vehicles, Amber Alerts and cross‑jurisdictional investigations.
The council previously budgeted roughly $70,000 for portable surveillance cameras earlier in the year; administration noted the technology is being licensed as a service (hardware + cloud + software) and that a subscription model and ongoing funding will be required if the department continues beyond the pilot.
Why it matters: License‑plate readers provide investigators with a searchable record of vehicle movements and can accelerate investigations, but they raise privacy and surveillance‑policy questions about retention, access, cross‑jurisdiction sharing and audits. Councilors requested a written policy, clarifications on MOUs and an audit trail for searches before wider deployment.
Speakers: Sgt. Joy Brown, Lewiston Police Department; Deputy Director (Public Works) Kevin Gagne (needle‑collection update followed the briefing).
