PCSO says no to Flock cameras

Flock cameras are no longer welcome in unincorporated Pinal County.

Citing Fourth Amendment concerns, Sheriff Ross Teeple informed the Pinal County Board of Supervisors that he is terminating the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office contract with Flock Safety for its automated license plate reader cameras.

“We have a camera system that can do facial recognition technology, pattern recognition technology and can start building a data set on what our citizens are doing on a day-to-day basis,” he told the board during its Wednesday meeting. “And that in my training experience, and talking to my fellow law enforcement, is a huge Fourth Amendment violation.”

Teeple said his decision would only affect the cameras in unincorporated areas of the county where PCSO is responsible for law enforcement services.

“The cities, if they decide that they want to continue on with this technology, God bless them, they are free to do that,” the sheriff said.

Teeple’s decision received strong support from the supervisors, particularly from board Vice Chairman Jeff Serdy.

“I think when we voted initially for these things, we didn’t really have the information of what they would turn into and what they can still turn into, which is why we need to be concerned about them,” Serdy said. “They don’t only photograph your car, they photograph whatever. Even if you walk by them, they’re tracking you.”

Serdy said that if the contract were to be continued, Flock Safety could replace its current cameras in Pinal County with newer models that have facial recognition.

“Who monitors them? It’s not elected people. It’s not even sworn officers. It’s just people that get hired at these companies. They have access to all your data,” Serdy said.

The county’s attorney told the supervisors that Teeple can terminate the contract without board action. But he added that there is an existing right-of-way license agreement from 2024 that the board can act on during a future meeting.

The supervisors did not indicate if and when the right-of-way agreement will be brought to the board for action.

Across the nation, there are cases of people purposely blocking the cameras and even taking them down and destroying them.

Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.