RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond police sergeant lost access to data collected by automatic license plate reader cameras placed throughout the city after a routine review uncovered a policy violation.
The violation occurred when the sergeant shared vehicle image data from a Flock camera with an FBI special agent.
The agent had requested an image of a vehicle believed to be in Richmond and connected to a homicide investigation in Washington, D.C.
Richmond police said the inquiry was not related to immigration enforcement.
Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards called the audit that uncovered the violation "an important safeguard" to help make sure law enforcement uses the cameras and the data they collect properly.
"ALPR technology has proven valuable in violent crime investigations, but these checks are necessary to maintain the proper balance between individual privacy, public safety, and compliance with Virginia law," Edwards said in a statement. "While I appreciate the sergeant's willingness to assist in a homicide investigation, sharing ALPR data - even of a single vehicle - with federal partners or agencies outside the Commonwealth of Virginia is prohibited."
The Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney investigated the incident and decided not to prosecute the officer. Richmond police said the sergeant's policy violation was the only violation the review uncovered.
Richmond police have deployed around 100 Flock automatic license plate readers across the city.
While the technology has been credited with helping solve crimes, it has also sparked debate over privacy, data security and cost.
The cameras are mounted on black poles or light poles with a solar panel and are always running, capturing images of every car or person that passes.
According to Dr. William Pelfrey, a criminal justice professor at VCU's Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, they do far more than read license plates.
"If you drive down a toll road, a license plate reader takes a picture of your license plate and make sure that you're paying your toll as you go through," Pelfrey said. "Flock cameras do a lot more than that. They monitor stickers on your car, damage on your car, make a model of your car, sometimes even the tires on your car, so they can produce a searchable database that has all this information about you, and that worries some people."
Pelfrey said there are about 100,000 Flock cameras across the U.S.
He said the data can assist local law enforcement when investigators have some information but not enough to close a case.
For Charles Willis, an anti-gun violence activist, the technology's role in solving crimes is reason enough to support it.
"The Flock cameras that the city council and mayor implemented into Richmond area is working where I'm looking forward to soon there are some folks that are soon apprehended and brought to justice," Willis said.
Watch: Richmond's Flock Safety cameras solve crimes, but critics raise concerns
Penny Page, a member of the Richmond Democratic Socialists of America, said her group's biggest concerns are cybersecurity and potential misuse.
"People are using the data on these things to like stalk their ex-girlfriends, it's really scary stuff. But also the data from these cameras have been accessed by ICE all over the country," Page said.
Page also questioned whether the cameras deliver on their core promise.
"The second part of that concern is it's just a waste of money. There is no proof that these actually solve crimes. Flock likes to point to anecdotal cases where crime has been solved, and their technology has been used in the course of that. But there's no clear trend that across the board cities that have this technology have less crime," Page said.
Pelfrey also highlighted concerns that some people have about who can access the data, including whether ICE can tap into local law enforcement databases.
Richmond police said the department will share any future compliance issues at regularly scheduled quarterly crime briefings to ensure transparency with the community.
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