Sheriff defends Flock license-plate readers as residents raise privacy concerns

The sheriff's office told the council that Flock license-plate readers are privately run cameras the department uses at major intersections and that the vendor's data has aided criminal investigations. "It is run by Flock," the sheriff said, adding that license-plate data had helped solve armed robbery cases and other vehicle-related investigations.

Residents pressed officials on privacy and data access, with one commenter calling the system "Big Brother following me." The sheriff said participating agencies must have a prior agreement to share data and described the system as a tool that retains imagery for a limited time. He also described recent vandalism to several units and said the county is repairing them. "It takes 6 to 12 images of the vehicles that go by," a sheriff's office speaker said when explaining the system's capture method.