Idaho Falls Police Chief discuss ALPR's at monthly chamber lunch
IDAHO FALLS — At the monthly Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce lunch Tuesday, Nov. 3, at the Westbank Convention Center, Idaho Falls Police Chief Bryce Johnson discussed the department’s newest tool: automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, better known as Flock cameras. An ALPR is a device that passively records the license plates of vehicles on a roadway. The Idaho Falls Police Department has placed 13 operational Flock cameras around the area. Their use has raised concerns about the cameras’ validity and legality. When asked whether the cameras are constitutional, Johnson said he has no doubts. “If I didn’t think they were constitutional, I would have never brought them to Idaho Falls,” Johnson said. “I’ve sworn an oath five times to defend the Constitution of the United States, they are absolutely constitutional.” Johnson said the cameras are used only on public roadways and intersections, where anyone with a recording device has the same opportunity to capture vehicles. “They take a picture, a snapshot of time in a place that there is no right to privacy. It’s on a public roadway,” Johnson said. “Anyone in here could go out there, take their phone, and record every car that goes through
