Flock cameras debated in Sterling Heights

Flock cameras are becoming a point of contention in the city of Sterling Heights tonight. Some say it's an effective law enforcement tool, others say it's invasive. Let's bring in Fox News Lauren Edwards, she joins us live with more on this debate over the cameras. Lauren. Rup, I can tell you the back and forth is real. Just had a meeting, residents and the police were there and city council was there and some were passionately for it, some passionately against it and the police chief who spoke majority of the time, he says, you know, first hear them out. Take a listen. Cameras are just a phenomenal law enforcement tool. I want the public to know that they're not an over invasive tool. There is taking a snapshot of a vehicle and the vehicle plate, a spot in time on main roads. We're not violating any privacy issues, any constitutional law. It's just roadways. And it's just one little tool that investigators can use from then to build a case if they need to do so. And that's Sterling Heights Police Chief Andy Satterfield. He spoke before city council and gave a detailed description of a flock camera saying it's to help officers fight crime. But some city council members say it's the surveillance that concerns them. They had questions about how much is too much, who collects the data and who else has access to that data. Those were some of the questions asked and some residents say they felt the same exact way. I'm very opposed to flock cameras and it's not just that company personally. I don't want us to get rid of them and replace them with another company like Axion. I'm against the warrantless surveillance and collection of our data by a private company and access to, they said, over 1,800 partner institutions where they can request our data without any warrant or affirmative approval. It just seems like an invasion of our privacy and in a few years from now, they're going to say this all should have been illegal in the first place. Now coming up on The Edge, you're going to hear directly from some of the city council members and what they had to say about it all. But please stick with Fox 2 as this story continues to develop. Reporting live here in Sterling Heights, Lauren Edwards, Fox 2 News. You know, we talk so often about data and what happens to our data and where it goes once it's collected. So even if the intent is not to take the data and do something nefarious with it, the concern is that something can be cracked, someone can access that data and then boom, you're sharing it across the world. And that's what city council, some city council members who were even for it, they still had those concerns and they just wanted certain questions answered about, again, who has access to this data? You know, if we're giving them this, you know, who else can access it? Can other police departments? So definitely all I can say is stick with Fox 2 as this continues to develop. We'll be watching it carefully. Our Lauren Edwards for us live tonight. Lauren, thanks.