BENSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Multiple cities in Cochise County, including the county itself, have canceled Flock contracts after concerns were raised by community members. Flock is a license plate reader system that many law enforcement agencies use to help identify cars in criminal cases or missing persons cases.
The City of Benson proposed moving away from Flock in a contract renewal with Axon- the company that provides body cameras, tasers, and storage platforms to the Benson Police Department. Benson City Council didn't approve that contract, causing the city to submit a new version without the license plate readers.
"Rather than fight about an issue of license plate readers, I brought a contract back to the council to give the officers the basic needs they needed," said Benson Police Chief and City Manager, Greg Volker.
The City has changed it's policy when it comes to sharing Flock data after concerns were raised by council.
"We have narrowed our policy so that we don't share the data outside of the City of Benson, with the exception of (law enforcement) who request that information,” Volker said.
Councilman Derrick Fenn raised concerns with Volker and during meetings about the readers. He says he's heard from residents and shares their privacy concerns when it comes to license plate readers.
"Looking at the broader picture, and money is scarce, budgets are tight. Is spending the money on such controversial technology the best decision for us as leaders,” Fenn said.
On Monday, Benson City Council approved the revised Axon contract, only after the city removed license plate readers from the 10-year contract.
"I wanted to secure the Axon contract without cameras, so that we could remove the Flock cameras without them just switching to a different platform,” Fenn said.
The city still has its contract with Flock, and the license plate readers are up all over town. Volker says Benson Police has used them in 25 cases with positive outcomes — including finding missing people and suspects.
"We need tools to help us identify exactly who's committing the crime, because the last thing we want to do is put an innocent person in jail,” Volker said.
He tells KGUN the Cochise County Attorney's Office requires more than probable cause to pursue a case— ensuring the right person is prosecuted.
But Fenn isn't letting this be the end. He says he'd like to see the license plate readers removed from the city. If that happens, Tombstone and Willcox would be the only cities in Cochise County to use Flock and have license plate readers.
"When it comes to public safety, every dollar really matters. And is this really how we want to be allocating these funds?,” Fenn said.
Benson won’t begin looking at its new budget until next year.
----
——-
Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
