The Henry County Sheriff’s Department has stopped using its Flock cameras. Sheriff Josh Verscheure’s announcement of this decision cited community concerns over privacy and data collection.
In Geneseo, the City Council has discussed Flock camera use, but hasn’t ordered that the police stop using them.
And on Monday, the Flock camera debate came to Kewanee.
Kewanee police have installed five of the cameras in and around the city, and at Monday’s City Council meeting Kewanee resident Levi Schwigen asked if the city would follow the county’s lead and remove the cameras.
“I hope not,” Mayor Gary Moore said.
Moore, a retired Kewanee police officer who now is on the police force at Black Hawk College East Campus, said the cameras can be a useful tool for law enforcement.
He said that on two occasions the cameras aided in his efforts to help women who were being stalked by ex-boyfriends.
But Moore conceded that it’s possible for police to misuse the cameras. When Schwigen cited reports that Texas police had used Flock cameras to track women heading out of the state to have abortions, Moore replied, “Shame on Texas.”
The Flock cameras are used to read license plates of passing vehicles, which can help police solve crimes. For example, Deputy Police Chief Michael Minx told The Kewanee Voice that a Flock camera image had helped officers locate a car thief and get the vehicle returned to its owner.
Councilman Mike Komnick said he hasn’t made up his mind on Flock cameras, and he feels the council should discus them at a future meeting.
