MILFORD, Ohio — On the corner of Main Street and Lila Avenue, a group of Milford residents gathered Friday afternoon.
They came together to protest the city's use of Flock cameras, expressing privacy concerns.
“I think that the cons outweigh the pros in this case," Adam Hyott said.
Hyott, a Milford resident and recent high school graduate, posted on social media earlier this week to organize the protest. He said that he's been inspired by another Tri-State city taking a stance against Flock cameras.
“I felt inspired by Newport doing away with their program, and I thought if I'm able to put something together that could possibly make a positive change and help make what the government is doing right now more aligned with the will of the people, I think that would be good," Hyott said.
Hear why some Milford residents are concerned about the city's Flock technology:
I asked him what some of his biggest concerns are.
“I feel this violates my right to privacy," Hyott said.
He also expressed an issue with how long data is stored.
“One of the big issues I have with it is Flock keeps the data, the recordings, for 30 days afterwards, which I feel is unnecessary," Hyott said.
I reached out to Milford Police Chief D. Jamey Mills but did not hear back Friday.
The City of Milford has a link on its police department tab to the Milford Police Department Flock Transparency Portal.
It begins with an overview of the technology and how it's used.
"OH - Milford PD uses Flock Safety technology to capture objective evidence without compromising on individual privacy. OH - Milford PD utilizes retroactive search to solve crimes after they've occurred. Additionally, OH - Milford PD utilizes real time alerting of hotlist vehicles to capture wanted criminals. In an effort to ensure proper usage and guardrails are in place, they have made the below policies and usage statistics available to the public."
License plates and vehicles are detected. Facial recognition, people, gender and race are not, according to the portal.
Data is retained for 30 days. The city uses a total of nine license plate recognition and other cameras.
Prohibited uses include things like immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement and intimidation. The portal is updated regularly.
