The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office is shutting off their automated license plate readers, also known as flock cameras.
This is in response to a newly signed bill by Governor Bob Ferguson regulating how those cameras are used.
Most of those cameras are small devices attached to light poles at major intersections across western Washington. Their job is to collect data on cars passing by.
Deputy Carly Cappetto tells us in Pierce County, the Sheriff’s Office uses a dash cam version of the technology mounted inside their cars.
“We can immediately get a camera hit on where that suspect’s location is and then we can find these dangerous offenders quickly,” Cappetto said.
As of Monday, those cameras are now shut off.
The new law signed this week prohibits federal agencies from accessing flock camera data, including Immigration Enforcement.
Any agency using the cameras must also keep detailed logs of what they use the video for.
It also states that flock systems are prohibited from collecting data near schools, hospitals, and places of worship.
Deputy Carly Cappetto tells us that’s the part that doesn’t work for their cameras.
“They (the cameras) don’t understand locations, so there’s not an ability to turn them off when we are in certain areas and turn them back on,” Cappetto said.
If the new rules are broken, the officer could face a misdemeanor charge.
“Essentially we are just going back to old school policing where deputies are going to have to manually run a license plate any time they have reasonable suspicion,” she said.
Cappetto tells us this will hinder their ability to quickly find missing people and criminals.
Senator Yasim Trudeau says these regulations are needed because “We want law enforcement to have the tools they need to solve crime, but we also need to respect community surveillance concerns and ensure the use of this data aligns with our values as a state.”
Cappetto said she hopes there are further talks about the guidelines that everyone can agree on.
“As technology grows and develops and maybe can put limitations on where it’s activated, I think this is just the beginning of the conversations,” Cappetto said.
The King County Sheriff’s Office said they don’t use flock camera technology within their department.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said, “Our office is aware of the recent bill passed and we are in regular communication with our legal team to ensure we are in compliance. At this time, we believe all of our flock cameras in unincorporated Snohomish County are in compliance with the community location guidelines outlined in the new legislation.”
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