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Thornton council hears police briefing on license‑plate readers and privacy safeguards
Summary
At a planning study session the Thornton Police Department detailed the department27s use of Flock automatic license‑plate readers, saying the system helps solve auto theft and missing‑person cases while staff described retention rules, audits, access controls and recent revocations of outside agency access.
Thornton Police Chief Jim Blair and Division Commander Chad Parker told the City Council at a planning study session that the department27s Flock automatic license‑plate reader (ALPR) system has become a "force multiplier" in investigations, while acknowledging resident concerns about privacy and data sharing.
"This presentation is not about whether safety and privacy are competing goals, rather it's about how they can and in fact must coexist," Chief Blair said, framing the briefing as an effort to explain how the technology is used and governed.
Commander Chad Parker described how the system operates: stationary and mobile cameras capture still images of vehicles at ingress points into the city, the software reads license plates and produces alerts when plates on law‑enforcement…
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