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Gooding County residents and sheriff spar over proposed Flock license-plate cameras
Summary
Sheriff Gough described the Flock system as a law-enforcement tool that captures only rear license plates and retains images for 30 days, while multiple residents called the devices a "mass surveillance tool" and raised data-access and misuse concerns.
Sheriff Gough told the Gooding County Board of Commissioners that the proposed Flock camera system captures only rear license-plate images, alerts law enforcement when a plate matches a felony hit, does not capture faces and retains images for 30 days. The board opened the item for public comment after establishing a rule — moved by Commissioner Vern Eames and seconded by Commissioner Ronald Buhler — that speakers must raise their hand and identify themselves and that only one person speak at a time.
Several residents urged the board not to adopt the system. Heather Graves called the platform "a mass surveillance tool" that could be used to collect data on innocent citizens and potentially sell that information; she also asserted that AI-enabled cameras "can read electronic devices within a vehicle." Dustin Sears asked who would have administrative access to the data and whether private vendors would reliably follow the 30-day deletion policy. Regal Sloan cited a reported misuse in Jerome County — saying a sheriff tracked his wife’s vehicle more than 700 times — as evidence of possible abuse. Commissioners responded that budget and procurement decisions are within the board's authority and noted agendas are posted online each Thursday for the following Monday meeting.
