Franklin Township leaders and police defend license-plate camera program after public outcry

Franklin Township's public safety director and a vendor representative spent the first hour of Tuesday's council meeting detailing how the township's automated license-plate recognition (ALPR) system works and why police say it aids investigations.

"It is a camera that takes a picture of your license plate as you drive by on the street," Public Safety Director Lloyd Fredericks told the council and the packed audience, adding, "It is used for criminal investigations only." Fredericks described multiple local examples in which plate hits allegedly helped find suspects, locate missing people and solve crimes. He said access to the system is logged and audited and that Franklin conducts quarterly and random monthly audits in addition to state reviews.

Vendor staff described the technology and its limitations: "I build software at Flock," said Ashley, a Flock engineer, and the vendor emphasized the system reads the rear of vehicles and, the vendor said, does not perform facial recognition. The director and vendor also told residents that New Jersey rules classify stored ALPR records as criminal investigatory records, and that state guidance requires retention for investigatory records in certain cases.

The presentation prompted extensive public comment that evening. Residents asked for aggregate program metrics, challenged contract language, and cited national reports alleging false positives or misuse by officers in other jurisdictions. Council members said they heard the concerns and that further follow-up and documentation would be provided before any future contract decisions.