Middleboro Town Meeting to vote on proposed Flock camera ban

MIDDLEBORO — Voters will have a say in whether Middleboro Police keep or get rid of a controversial piece of technology during Fall Town Meeting.

Former School Committee member Richard Oakley submitted a citizen’s petition to ban Flock cameras and other automatic license plate readers in town. If voted into effect, the new bylaw would prevent the town from using automatic license plate reader cameras and require it to cut off existing contracts.

The petition read that its purpose was “to protect the privacy and civil liberties of residents and visitors” of Middleboro.

The bylaw would also prevent the town from sharing any of its data collected through the cameras with other law enforcement agencies or federal agencies.

The Middleboro Police Department currently operates four Flock cameras, although one of them is out of operation after being vandalized.

Police Chief Robert Ferreira Jr. said that the department has operated these cameras for about three years. He said that the cameras are a “valuable tool” for criminal investigations.

Towns across the country have taken efforts to ban Flock cameras and other automatic license plate readers over the past year. Many of these towns cited privacy concerns and potential misuse of the cameras by law enforcement officials.

Several cases of alleged Flock camera misuse have surfaced recently. The New Bedford Police Department recommended terminating two officers in early September after the department accused them of using the Flock database to track their ex-romantic partners.

Federal law enforcement agencies have also been able to access police departments’ data without them knowing, according to a study by the University of Washington.

The American Civil Liberties Union accused companies like Flock of trying to build a “nationwide mass surveillance system.”

The Middleboro Police Department shares the data that its Flock cameras collect nationwide, Ferreira said. But he said that federal agencies like ICE do not have access to the department’s data.

Ferreira also said that the town does not operate enough cameras to be able to track people’s whereabouts easily.

“I think there’s a misconception about how much information’s out there,” Ferreira said.

Only about “25%” of the department’s officers have access to the Flock database, according to Ferreira. Most of these are detectives.

Officers in nearby towns like Wareham have been found to give vague reasons for search terms. ACLU Policy Counsel Gideon Epstein told Wareham Week that this practice could “leave the door wide open for potential abuse of this technology.

Ferreira said that when officers search the database, they have to input an offense type and a case number, or else the search will be flagged to a supervisor.

He said that while he understands people’s concerns about privacy, he thinks the cameras should remain. He will give a presentation at the Fall Town Meeting asking voters to vote against this law.

Oakley did not respond to multiple requests for comment.