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Bay Village police unveil Flock transparency portal and outline permitted uses
Summary
Police Chief described the department's use of the Flock camera and license-plate system, said the city added a public transparency portal to the website that logs searches and usage, and emphasized policy limits that block certain searches (immigration, reproductive-rights) from being run against the system.
Chief Gillespie updated council on the department's Flock license-plate-camera system and said the department has added a transparency portal to the city website that documents monthly activity and audits user searches. The chief said the portal shows how often the system is used, which agencies share data and what searches were run.
"Flock has a transparency portal, which we've added to the website," the chief said, and added that the portal will show counts and daily updates and will aid audits of who searched what and when. The chief emphasized policy controls: when the city signed the contract it agreed not to permit searches for immigration or reproductive-rights purposes with partner agencies under the city's configuration; the system also provides auditing tools to detect anomalous use.
Council and staff discussed examples where the system aided investigations (missing persons and vehicle-tracking cases) and asked that the portal be publicized to help residents understand its uses and protections.
Provenance: The chief's Flock presentation and the subsequent discussion appear in the public-safety and director reports portion of the meeting.
