Akron's Flock Safety license-plate cameras should be a powerful crime fighter

When you drive to a store or work in Akron in the near future, an automated camera will likely snap your vehicle's picture and index your license plate, model and color and send it to a data storage cloud.

It's unlikely anyone will ever access your data because most of us are law-abiding citizens. Data on your boring drive for a gallon of milk will disappear in 30 days.

But if your car has been stolen or is suspected of being involved in a major crime, Akron police will receive an immediate alert that could quickly lead to a successfully closed case.

That's already happening in several Summit County communities that have installed networks of Flock Safety cameras — including Macedonia, where a stolen vehicle alert helped officers thwart shoplifters as they exited a store.

Akron City Council recently authorized Mayor Dan Horrigan to install 145 of the license plate-reading cameras across the city, especially near the University of Akron campus. The goal of the $400,000 project is to reduce crime by giving police a highly sophisticated artificial intelligence tool. 

The cameras should be a powerful ally in Akron's quest to reduce crime. It would be impossible for detectives to generate the same information Flock can automatically deliver in seconds or through quick records searches for vehicles that were near a crime scene.

Yes, the surveillance state is here — and that's not necessarily a bad thing if the data can be handled perfectly by city leaders.

Flock cameras do not take pictures of drivers, so there is no facial recognition to detect a murder suspect driving down the street. Nor do they clock speeds or issue citations for running red lights.

Some Akron City Council members understandably expressed concerns about privacy although the ordinance granting Horrigan permission to sign a contract with Flock fails to mention any privacy requirements. 

Leaders in Norton and Hudson have declined deals with Flock, with Norton specifically mentioning concerns about hacking of the data.

While we can't rule out a possible hack compromising the data, Flock does not track anything that's not already visible on our streets.

No personal information will be collected, and we're not sure why anyone outside of police would want the data. The city of Akron already possesses far more sensitive information on every taxpayer.

That doesn't mean we're not curious about the unknown implications of 145 cameras recording images of vehicles every day.

Akron's contract with Flock needs ironclad guarantees that only police can access the data for legitimate investigations. The city also needs to closely monitor access to the database to ensure it is used properly at all times. An escape clause in the contract also might be helpful if things don't work out.

We also don't know if criminals can learn to avoid the camera network and still escape detection or possibly move their business to areas or communities without the cameras.

But Flock claims 70% of crimes involve a vehicle in some way, and that its system can reduce crime by the same amount. 

If that happens in Akron, it could be a positive game changer at a time when guns are proliferating beyond the control of local leaders.

We commend Akron City Council for taking this step and urge Horrigan's administration to carefully proceed and follow-up on its pledge to fully educate citizens about how Flock cameras will operate.