Lexington moves forward with expansion of license plate cameras. Why some are opposed

The Lexington council voted Tuesday to buy an additional 75 license plate reader cameras, despite objections from dozens of people who told the council that more time was needed to study the effectiveness of the cameras.

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted 10-4 to approve the expansion after nearly three hours of public comment before the vote.

Not all of the people who spoke Tuesday night commented on the license plate readers. Many were there to speak for or against a proposal to give renters more rights.

Under a pilot program, in March the city was given 25 Flock Safety Cameras, which read license plate numbers and compare them against various databases, including stolen vehicles and missing persons. The pilot program was originally slated to last a year, according to city officials when the project was announced.

However, just shy of six months into that pilot, Mayor Linda Gorton asked the council to spend more $230,000 to purchase 75 additional cameras, saying the program has been an overwhelming success.

At a news conference in late November, Gorton said the cameras have helped find 95 stolen vehicles, locate 11 missing persons and helped the police serve 130 warrants and subpoenas. It has helped the police locate murder suspects from other states, she said.

The locations of the cameras will now be public instead of private. The decision to keep the location of the cameras secret was to determine how effective they are. Police also said they were concerned that with just 25 cameras, people would avoid areas where the cameras were located.

Lexington police have said if the additional 75 cameras are approved, they will release the location of the cameras. Many were concerned the cameras would be placed in largely minority areas who have long voiced concerns about over-policing in their neighborhoods.

Some council members have previously said they were also concerned that they have not seen 12 months of data. The 25 cameras were not fully installed until August.

Vice Mayor Steve Kay said he voted against, not because he was against the cameras but because the council still hasn’t seen enough data over a period of time to determine the effectiveness of the cameras.

“We have had a short period of time to determine the effectiveness of the cameras,” Kay said.

Councilman David Kloiber agreed.

“We need data. We need information,” Kloiber said Tuesday before the vote.

Other council members who voted against the expansion include Councilwomen Hannah LeGris and Jennifer Reynolds.

Some council members have asked to see stolen vehicle number recoveries from the prior year without the use of Flock Safety Cameras, among other statistics. The city has yet to provide those numbers to show how the cameras have improved solve rates.

Other council members said the cameras have worked and there was no reason to delay the purchase of additional cameras.

“We can’t wait any longer,” said Councilman Preston Worley during a Nov. 28 council work session meeting. Police officers say the cameras work and help police catch criminals. The city is struggling with a lack of police officers, he said. Technology can help the short-staffed police department.

Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers has previously said he was not aware of any complaints about the cameras or their locations.

ACLU, others opposed

Amber Duke, interim executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said the police published its first audit of the use of the cameras at 1 p.m. Tuesday. That audit showed that no one had inappropriately accessed the camera information, according to records published on the police department’s website.

Duke asked the council to pause the expansion until more questions could be answered. The ACLU has significant questions about the more than five dozen police departments that have access to Lexington’s data. It’s not clear how that information is used and if those police departments have appropriate oversight, she said.

There has not been sufficient time for review and questions, Duke said.

“The ACLU of Kentucky is opposed to spending taxpaying dollars for the expansion of government surveillance,”she said.

Frank Harris asked the council to amend the ordinance so the program could be reviewed after a certain period of time and that the ordinance sunset.

Clay Davis, who is part of a local group concerned with government surveillance, said he asked for a comprehensive government surveillance policy since 2017.

“We have a draft ordinance that the city could use,” Davis said. The city has balked at such a move, he said. “No one has taken the steps to push it forward.”

Davis said more than dozen cities have such policies.

Davis said the city has lots of other surveillance programs including body-worn cameras and “programs Chief Weathers won’t even discuss.”

Jeremy Russell English said the city had promised a year-long pilot program. Instead, they are trying to ram through the expansion with little or no notice.

“This is a new low,” said Russell English.

Others said the ongoing costs for the program is $250,000. That money will go to Flock, which is in Colorado. That money could be spent on programs that prevent crime, others argued.

Jessica Bowman said during the Nov. 8 general election voters rejected Fraternal Order of Police-backed council candidates. Instead, voters choose the most diverse council in history. Bowman said by trying to ram through the expansion, it subverts the will of voters.

Lexington Police Det. Dave Collins said there are “weekly success stories” with the use of the cameras.

Collins said it has helped the police recover stolen vehicles and helped police catch criminals quicker. He also said many people who oppose the license plate readers wanted police to wear body-worn cameras.

“I think they are super important,” Collins said of the body-worn camera. “I love the accountability.”

Det. Joe Holland said the system has helped them track down homicide suspects and stolen vehicles.

“I’ve used it for cargo thefts,” Holland said. “This is less invasive than the River Link system.”

River Link is used to send motorists toll bills that cross bridges from Kentucky to Indiana.

Still, there have been legal challenges about the use of license plate reader cameras in other states and cities. In February, three residents of Marco Island, Florida, sued the city for use of license plate readers, alleging the cameras violated their Fourth Amendment rights by tracking their movements.

Flock Safety will determine the location of the new cameras using crime call data. It will take more than three months for the cameras to be fully installed, city officials have said.

City officials said Tuesday they will hold a meeting prior to the installation of additional cameras.

Those who voted in favor of the expansion include: Whitney Elliott Baxter, Liz Sheehan, Susan Lamb, Kathy Plomin, James Brown, Amanda Mays Bledsoe, Chuck Ellinger, Preston Worley, Fred Brown and Josh McCurn.