Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin was met with a barrage of calls and emails from supporters of license plate readers after a safety committee voted against extending the city’s contract with Flock Safety. The current contract is set to end on June 29.

Reconsidering the Contract

Griffin and Council Member Mike Polensek, chair of the safety committee, are granting city officials another chance to make their case at a second committee hearing. They are also considering an amendment that would allow council members to keep license plate readers out of their wards.

License plate readers are cameras that capture images of every passing vehicle, which are then transmitted to a database and stored for 30 days. Law enforcement agencies can share access to their databases with each other.

Dozens of cities have cancelled or declined to renew contracts with Flock amid citizen backlash over immigration-related searches and other abuses of the technology. In Cleveland, other law enforcement agencies access the city’s database far more often than its own officers, which officials say is due to the city’s participation in Flock’s national network.

Concerns and Support

A deputy chief of police told the safety committee that losing access to license plate readers would be ‘crippling’ to Cleveland police’s efforts to solve violent crimes, recover stolen vehicles, and locate missing people. However, when asked for data to back up this claim, city officials said they would get back to the committee.

Bishop Tony Minor of Community of Faith Assembly expressed ambivalence about the technology, citing concerns over its potential use to target immigrants, but also acknowledging the need to fight crime in neighborhoods.

Original reporting: Signal Cleveland — read the source article.