DAYTON — The community voiced its outrage after Dayton Police Department announced that an investigation into Flock license plate reader cameras found that a network-sharing feature allowed more access to data than originally intended.
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This unintended access led to more than 7,000 immigration-related search requests by various law enforcement agencies.
Dayton residents are now calling for the cameras’ removal and contract cancellation.
Law enforcement in Dayton had used these automatic license plate reader cameras since 2023 to track suspects and solve crimes.
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The internal investigation confirmed that the network-sharing feature on these cameras provided data access beyond the initial intent.
The Dayton Police Department has stated that the commander responsible for the implementation of the cameras is no longer with the department, and Flock cameras are currently not being used in Dayton.
Strong emotions filled the council chambers on Wednesday night as multiple people expressed disappointment.
Dayton resident Collen criticized the duration of the process.
“Instead, it took months to do an investigation. Then, after the investigation was concluded, it took months for a press conference to confirm that,” they said.
Joseph Abrams, a Dayton resident, questioned the scope of accountability for the program.
“How is one person responsible of the implementation of a program that big?” he said.
Citizens at the meeting made specific demands, including access to audit data, removal of the cameras, and cancellation of the contract.
“So today I want to make three demands to see if we can go just a little bit to rectify this situation,” Collen said.
Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein addressed the public regarding the audit.
“The administration will look toward the commission in regards to direction on the audit,” Dickstein said.
She further emphasized that this involved “a huge amount of data” that officials were examining.
“We are working on pulling together all the records that were reviewed. I wanted to make sure there was more than seven thousand emails and hundreds of thousands of records were reviewed as a result to the access to our data,” Dickstein said.
The city administration is actively working to compile all reviewed records related to the Flock cameras and will seek direction from the commission regarding the audit.
We will continue to follow this story.
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