POUGHKEEPSIE – After evidence showed that Flock License Plate Readers (LPRs) have improved public safety in Dutchess County over the past few years, the county will remove Flock cameras from its public safety arsenal. .
Several local politicians used the forum to give short campaign speeches, focusing on the perceived violations of civil liberties, with one legislator, Emma Arnoff (D-Pleasant Valley), returning to the tenet of the Defund the Police movement by calling for more social workers and fewer cameras.
Currently, as part of a joint effort between the sheriff’s office and the district attorney, known as the incidents in other parts of the country where law enforcement officers allegedly misused such data and called for an end to the use of LPRs in the county. No evidence of misuse has been identified in Dutchess County.
Parisi and Imperati announced Friday morning that, after consideration of comments and concerns raised by residents at recent community forums, they agreed to jointly withdraw their support for Dutchess County’s continued use of Flock Safety technology, an integral part of ARCTIC. Parisi emphasized that ARCTIC, Flock technology and the broader use of license plate readers were pursued as public-safety initiatives.
“Sheriff Imperati and I have each spent more than 30 years in law enforcement. We were both born and raised in Dutchess County,” said DA Parisi. These are our communities too. Our families live here. Our friends live here. Our intention from the beginning has been to make the communities where all of us live and work safer.” He continued, saying, “There was no secret agenda. The objective was to give law enforcement responsible tools to help prevent crime, solve serious offenses and make Dutchess County safer. But if we say community participation matters, we must be willing to change course when the community responds.”
After Dutchess County’s top two law enforcement officials announced the decision, the Democratic majority of the Dutchess County Legislature politicized the policy shift, saying it would introduce a resolution in October to immediately suspend data collection from the Flock system and cover the Flock cameras until they are removed.
Legislator Alexander, speaking of the resolution, said, “I organized the Flock Forum to allow members of the public to speak directly to our District Attorney and Sheriff about their concerns regarding the use of this surveillance technology. It worked. A packed room of citizens stood and spoke one after another about their deep concerns and anger about a loss of privacy and the unchecked collection and use of data collected by this system. The Legislature will now act to end Flock in Dutchess County.”
Town of Poughkeepsie Legislator Lisa Kaul, running for a seat in the state senate in November, said, “When the pursuit of safety becomes an excuse for surveillance, we have a duty to stop it. I call for an immediate suspension of Dutchess County’s contract with FLOCK and demand that the county cover every FLOCK camera in the district. We have learned that this cloud-based technology cannot be controlled and can be used to create a surveillance state that undermines all of our freedoms. This is simply too powerful a technology, and too dangerous a threat to our liberties.”
“Public safety should never be used as a political weapon or an election-year talking point,” Parisi said. “This issue is far too important to be distorted, exaggerated or used for political advantage by anyone seeking or holding public office. I hope our decision today puts an end to the effort to turn this matter into a campaign issue. The people of Dutchess County deserve a serious, honest discussion about public safety, not political posturing by elected officials or candidates looking to gain an advantage in this year’s elections.”
Imperati said the joint decision does not change his belief that properly regulated license plate reader technology can have legitimate investigative value.
“I continue to believe this technology can help law enforcement locate dangerous offenders, find missing people, recover stolen vehicles and investigate serious crimes. But believing a technology can be useful does not mean government should continue using it when the people it serves have raised serious concerns. Public safety depends on public trust. We cannot lose sight of that.”
“Leadership cannot mean asking people to speak and then ignoring them when they do,” Parisi said. “Sheriff Imperati and I are withdrawing our support for the County’s continued use of Flock technology. Our commitment to public safety has not changed. We will keep working every day to protect the people of Dutchess County, and we will keep listening to them as we do.”
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