Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
New Castle County police defend use of Flock ALPR cameras, cite 30‑day retention and limited access
Summary
At a Feb. 10 public safety committee briefing, New Castle County Police described how Flock automatic license‑plate readers (ALPRs) are used chiefly for stolen‑vehicle and burglary investigations, said data are retained for 30 days, and emphasized audited, justified searches with limited internal access.
Colonel Leonard of the New Castle County Police Department told the county Public Safety Committee on Feb. 10 that the department uses Flock automatic license‑plate readers (ALPRs) primarily to help solve stolen‑vehicle cases, burglaries, Amber Alerts and other major investigations.
"It does not identify people. It doesn't do any type of facial recognition," Leonard said, describing ALPRs as devices that photograph license plates and log the time, location and vehicle details before checking plates against law‑enforcement hot lists.
Leonard and Lieutenant Cumberbatch outlined operational limits intended to protect privacy. Searches must cite a legitimate law‑enforcement purpose and — in many cases — a case or incident number; the department stores captured plate data in the Flock cloud and retains it for 30 days. "Takeaway is that…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
