Oak Park, it seems, is about to have another debate about the use by local police of license plate reading technology provided by the Flock Safety Corporation.
Oak Park first installed these cameras in 2022. The impetus then was to get a handle, through technology, on what cars were passing through the village, if any were reported stolen or involved in a criminal incident. There were strong objections raised both by citizens and some elected officials who felt the technology was overly intrusive and that the massive amount of data collected locally and nationwide was subject to misuse.
The outcome then was to install half of the cameras originally requested by police. A contract with Flock was narrowly extended a year ago. Now some members of the board want another discussion as surveillance worries began to coalesce around potential misuse of data by federal ICE agents to home in on arresting immigrants.
This is a valid concern. More valid after Police Chief Shatonya Johnson revealed in a memo to village officials that, last January, south suburban Palos Heights had tapped into Oak Park Flock data in an effort to locate an alleged immigrant.
Oak Park has defined itself over the past several years as a sanctuary city for immigrants. Part of that effort has been ordinances that specifically prohibit local police or other village entities from cooperating with federal immigration efforts, except in rare and court-ordered cases.
If that determination is real, and we believe it is, then a full discussion of the continued use of these cameras is warranted.