Full transcript
In tonight's deep dive, the growing
backlash over the use of Flock
surveillance camera systems. And now, a
criminal investigation is underway into
six former Savannah Police Department
employees accused of misusing the
technology. ABC's Olivia Rubin has more.
Six former Savannah Police Department
employees, including four officers, are
now under criminal investigation after
being fired for allegedly misusing these
controversial surveillance cameras made
by the company Flock.
Totally honest, I'm disappointed. I'm
I'm pissed off about it.
The employees allegedly using the system
to make personal searches involving
family and acquaintances. The high-tech
AI-powered cameras read license plates
and store that data for police
departments to use. Over 120,000
deployed nationwide to help fight crime.
They're on streetlights, bridges, and
highways. But backlash is growing amid
rising reports of misuse.
Dozens of officers now charged or
accused of using the technology
inappropriately, including stalking.
This North Carolina police officer
arrested for allegedly using it to track
her boyfriend's ex-wife more than 30
times. She's set to appear in court at
the end of the month.
That's what bothers me the most, that
uh the people that use this stuff for
personal gain.
Critics also calling these cameras an
invasion of privacy. Some are being
vandalized in acts of protest. In Texas,
this camera cut in half. And in
Minnesota, a man posting these videos of
himself covering up the cameras with
tape, telling ABC the technology is
dangerous. But Flock telling ABC News
their cameras do exactly what they're
supposed to do.
We helped in over a million crimes last
year, over 10,000 missing people.
And some agree.
The benefits I believe outweigh the
issues here at
And Flagg saying that criminal acts like
vandalism should never be the answer
here as people continue to make their
voices heard in this ever-present debate
about individual privacy versus public
safety. Back to you.
Olivia, thank you. And for more on this,
we're joined by former FBI agent and ABC
News contributor Brad Garrett. Brad,
great to see you. Thanks so much for
joining us. So, this is a big talker.
What First, what's your reaction to what
we just heard and the allegations that
these high-tech AI cameras are being
misused? Does that concern you at all?
Uh in big time. I mean, this is a a
piece of technology that has caught
people that have taken kids, that have
committed murders. I mean, we could go
on and on. And so, the idea of having it
is terrific.
And but the problem is anything that's
good, somebody can figure out how to use
it in a negative, bad, or unlawful way.
And that's why you have to big time,
Stephanie, monitor systems that have
this sort of sensitive data in it. So,
in other words, when you log on, when
you log on to classified computers in
the FBI or in the intelligence
community, it shows that I logged on
under a particular number and looked up
whatever I looked up. You really have to
have something like that in place so you
can go back and check. And maybe they
do, and maybe that's how they caught
these people. I don't know. But the
point being, there's accountability when
you have sensitive information and you
have to stay on top of it.
Right. And and and all that seem no, I
mean,
a lot of folks talking about the
benefits of this and and like you
mentioned, this is technology that
that's been able to catch criminals.
Would you say that the good outweighs
the bad when you consider what these
controversial surveillance cameras are
capable of?
I think there's there's no doubt that
the good will outweigh the bad. However,
if you keep having issues like this,
it's it's another thing that's going to
turn the public against law enforcement
and not trust them. And we have a big
problem in that arena generally now for
a multitude of reasons. But the point
being, you you got to have I mean the
last thing you want is someone to abduct
a 5-year-old and you don't have the
system anymore to track how they've
moved in a particular direction.
Uh I mean it it's a big travesty, but
we're going to have to figure this out
and they're going to have to as I
mentioned earlier
hold people accountable and hold them
accountable as it occurs.
And
I guess an option wouldn't be to get rid
of these cameras. Would that solve the
underlying privacy concerns people might
have?
Well, maybe, but
but you have to understand one thing.
These are basically state stationary
license plate readers. How many police
cars have you passed in New York or
other places that have those two cameras
mounted on the rear deck of the car
beside the trunk?
That's what they [clears throat] are.
They're just mobile license plate pick
uh pickups. However, this
[clears throat] this Flock system also
has high-res cameras in it that really
give you I think you might even be able
to ID people as they pick up depending
on circumstances, light, etc.
Um so they've been around for years and
we've used them for years. This is sort
of this the next generation and the the
ability to collect a lot more
information in a short period of time.
I see. And and folks would probably say
a lot of people might say, "Well, if
you're not doing anything wrong, you
shouldn't have a problem with it." But
is there a a change that can be made to
these cameras or ways to ease privacy
concerns?
I don't think so. I I I mean the reality
of it is that you're using the camera
that's in the public on a public
highway. I mean you have no expectation
of privacy. If somebody was listening
what you were talking about in your car,
that's a different story. But, the idea
of driving on any public street and a
camera captures you, your car at 1:00 in
the morning at a certain location,
there's nothing that I'm aware of that
that that's
unlawful. And so, as the result, this is
another situation of bad PR for law
enforcement. And if they don't get this
together, they're going to have issues
with vandalism and maybe even enough
pressure in certain jurisdictions where
they may take the cameras out.
Exactly. And it's something that we
might start to see in a lot more
municipalities across the country. Brad,
thank you so much for your time and
insights. Appreciate it.