Reed Baldwin, Contributing Writer
About six months ago, I wrote an article in the CT about Flock cameras in Richmond. At the time, my primary concern and purpose for writing it was simple: I do not like being tracked and recorded, nor do many others.
According to the Institute for Justice, there are several national cases of law enforcement misusing Automated License Plate Reader technology. ALPRs are controversial surveillance devices that record license plates and allow law enforcement to search national databases for a vehicle’s recent activity. From Braselton, Georgia, to Sedgwick, Kansas, to Johnson County, Texas, officers have proved that communities’ concerns over privacy and surveillance are warranted.
Communities across the country have seen a rise in this kind of surveillance technology (and misuse of it) since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Mass surveillance is a serious problem — there is no question about it. However, recent events have shifted my focus to something I consider far more concerning.
After several months of public pressure, Richmond Mayor Danny Avula announced on Oct. 10 that the city will not be renewing its contract with Flock Safety according to ABC News. Big win, right? Avula mentioned that while the current contract will continue through June 2027, he is not ruling out a contract with another ALPR company because Flock’s “benefits outweigh the risks.”
In other words, the cameras are not going anywhere anytime soon.
A likely candidate to replace Flock Safety in June 2027 is Axon, a company that the city is already conducting business with. Like Flock, Axon provides security cameras that use artificial intelligence to locate vehicles, identify firearms and map crime scenes.
According to WTVR Richmond News, The Richmond Police Department has partnered with Axon on their Connect Richmond initiative, offering up to $7,500 in reimbursements to business owners and residents that install their FususCORE device. This small addition to security systems adds the camera’s location and owner information to a city database, where owners will then be contacted to provide their footage if a crime is to occur.
Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards has consistently defended the city’s growing surveillance, attributing this year’s decrease in murders to Flock Safety. According to Edwards, crimes are being prevented and solved, and our privacy is a small price to pay.
However, crime is not being prevented. According to ABC News, crimes like burglary, domestic assault and property crime have all increased, while murders and non-deadly shootings have decreased in Richmond. Attributing any of these trends to one policy or product is dangerous.
It is true that murders are being solved, but murders in Richmond were solved long before Flock. Richmond was the leading major city in percentage of murders solved in 2018, five years before Flock, according to the Washington Post.
What we are seeing in Richmond is what communities across the country are seeing: a lack of accountability from our elected officials. This has unfortunately become a trend for Avula in his short time in office. Preventing homicides is not a simple task.
Attributing a dip in violence to a surveillance system is lazy policing and governance. Law enforcement officers around the country have shown us that, in many instances, this technology is more of a danger to us than anything it can prevent.
It is the mayor’s job to hear and consider all perspectives, law enforcement officers included, but it is also the mayor’s job to think critically and creatively. While mass surveillance may make policing easier, it has proven to be easily abused and marginally useful in keeping people safe.
We have now put millions of dollars into this technology. Our schools are underfunded. Rent is higher than ever. Funding people’s needs should be prioritized over recording them.