BROOKLYN PARK, Minn — The Brooklyn Park City Council unanimously approved installing new cameras throughout the city to help police deter violence.
But the technology takes pictures of people's license plates and is raising some concerns.
The police department is contracting with a company called Flock Safety which says it's now being used in 5,000 communities across the country. It started back in 2017 and was primarily used by homeowner's associations until law enforcement started using it in 2019.
Flock Safety says it isn't meant for traffic enforcement, rather it's to track down a stolen vehicle or one associated with an Amber Alert. It also doesn't use facial recognition or store data for longer than 30 days. Additionally, whatever agency is using it will be audited twice a year.
"We see crimes that never would have been solved," said Connor Metz, Flock Safety Public Relations Manager. "They just have a blurry image of a black SUV, for example, but then, all of a sudden, they're identifying and locating the vehicle's owner within hours."
"It doesn't track people, it doesn't recognize people's faces, it doesn't take a picture of your face," said Brooklyn Park Police Inspector Elliot Faust. "It's very heavily regulated, so the potential for abuse here is very, very low and that was the main concern from the council and understandably so."
The police department will start by leasing eight cameras that cost about $3,000 apiece. The department will pay for them by using forfeiture funds.
The contract is still being finalized, but Inspector Faust said once that happens, the cameras could be installed within a couple of months. A state statute requires the exact locations to be publicly posted once that happens.
"It sort of takes the bias out of policing, it's very objective in that sense," said Metz.
Several other neighboring police departments, including Brooklyn Center, also use this technology and so does a Brooklyn Park apartment complex.