In our discussions about Flock, the automated license plate reader technology, data has often been selectively cited to support varying opinions. I urge you to set aside ideological differences and consider this issue purely on the basis of community safety, which is ultimately our shared goal.
Capabilities of Flock technology:
•      Investigative efficiency: Flock assists our police in investigating crimes and apprehending criminals, which in turn reduces the likelihood of future offenses.
• Enhanced safety: The system provides real-time alerts and notifications, enabling proactive responses and optimal deployment of resources to ensure community safety.
• Extended reach and flexibility: Flock is not limited to fixed locations. Equipping mobile units with these cameras would enhance our ability to adapt to changing safety needs across different areas.
Our police department now operates with a significantly constrained setup: only eight cameras in limited locations with restricted functionality focused on solving crime instead of preventing crime.
We have yet to activate crucial safety features like alerts and notifications that help us deploy our limited resources (Our police department is 37 officers short) in ways that best contribute to crime prevention and hence community safety. While Flock technology deployed in Chicago helped quickly solve Jailyn Logan-Bledsoe’s murder, its deployment in Oak Park with proactive capabilities enabled could have helped prevent that murder and would have been beneficial in addressing the funeral procession shooting. Also, these cameras as currently configured, do not cross-reference license plates with their respective vehicles to check for discrepancies, such as switched plates—a loophole that criminals exploit to avoid detection. The technology has the ability to do this and other proactive measures focused on crime prevention, but we have restricted its use to reactive investigation of violent offenses, missing persons and stolen vehicle scenarios – restrictions we should reconsider.
By limiting the system’s reach and flexibility – that is, arbitrarily reducing the initially requested twenty Flock cameras to just eight, and not extending this technology to mobile units – we also may have hindered our ability to prevent recent violent incidents, such as the shootings near Oak Park’s main library at Scoville Park and, previously, at Lake and Forest Ave. These limitations should also be reevaluated.
As I think of Flock in our community (its use and conversations surrounding its use), an analogy comes to mind: It is like giving someone a smart phone and instructing them to use it only to make phone calls, which is ok … but then let’s not complain about what the technology has not accomplished for us. Our expectations and criticism cannot be based on what a technology is capable of if we have severely limited the use of those very capabilities.
Despite these constraints, the deployment of Flock technology has yielded significant investigative benefits. We have successfully removed firearms from the streets and enhanced our cooperative efforts with other agencies, solving crimes more effectively. Furthermore, there have been no complaints about interactions resulting from the use of Flock technology.
Our police department, led by our first female African-American police chief, has shown a profound commitment to community-oriented policing. We are fortunate to have her leadership. It is crucial that we support her and our dedicated police department by providing the necessary tools to excel in their roles. Let’s unite to empower Chief Shatonya Johnson and her team, as they pursue our community’s safety by fully leveraging the potential of technology in general (and specifically Flock) through its safe and bias-free use. This is not just an investment in technology, but also in our collective security and well-being.
Ravi Parakkat is a trustee for the Village of Oak Park
