Galesburg City Council on Monday night approved the purchase of 5 license plate reader cameras to be used by Galesburg Police.
The vote was 5-2 with Ward 4 Councilmember Dwight White and Ward 6’s Sarah Davis opposed.
Ward 4 Alderman Dwight White was opposed saying he’s not against law enforcement but believed there was a lack of “checks and balances” overseeing the cameras’ use.
He spent nearly 30 minutes asking questions of Police Chief Russ Idle and Hector Soliman-Valdez, a Customer Success Manager with Flock Safety.
White also shared concerns that the data would potentially be sold to third-party companies.
He insisted on a detailed plan about the data and how it would be stored and used before he would support the camera purchase.
Ward 7 Alderman Steve Cheesman says he supports the purchase of the LPR cameras as an effective crime fighting tool.
Ward 1 Alderman Bradley Hix says that if a heinous crime took place residents would be glad to have a tool to apprehend a criminal.
Soliman-Valdez with Flock says the cameras and it’s software are not linked to reference systems like the DMV.
In answering a question from Alderman White, Soliman-Valdez says Galesburg Police would be able to create a custom hot list as long as it aligns with department policy.
He adds that officers have to enter a search reason for a license plate and all those searches are auditable.
There are over 200 police departments in Illinois using flock LPR cameras according to Soliman-Valdez.
Flock is a privately held company based in Atlanta, Georgia.
