CINCINNATI — The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office is pausing its use of Flock cameras, Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey announced.
McGuffey announced the pause, which begins Thursday, at a press conference as Flock cameras remain a heavily debated topic around the Tri-State.
Flock cameras are automated license plate readers that capture vehicle details and then store the information in the cloud for law enforcement use. The company said its technology is used by thousands of law enforcement agencies nationwide.
McGuffey said she's instituting the pause because she wants several changes from Flock, including clear guidelines on who the information obtained from vehicles is shared with, where it goes when it's collected and more.
"I know what we personally do with it, but it connects, it connects to a lot of technology and so forth, and I want the company to be prepared to tell citizens what that is and where it's going," McGuffey said.
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McGuffey said she made this decision with the input of her command staff, not anyone else.
"I don't surround myself with 'Yes' people. I'm going to tell you that right now," McGuffey said. "Everybody that's on my command understands that their opinion is valued, that they can say 'This isn't working' or 'No, we gotta do this other thing,' and I listen, I respect those opinions, and I alone made the decision."
She reiterated that she did not go and consult with any other counties or sheriffs about the pause, but as a courtesy, she did call others and tell them about the pause so they weren't blindsided.
McGuffey also made a point to say that no Hamilton County deputies have misused Flock technology.
Hamilton County has partnered with Flock since 2022 after a grant helped fund 25 cameras, according to Major Tony Orue.
Orue said the county's camera network grew to 75 total after they worked with individual townships and municipalities within Hamilton County. While the county controls all of the Flock cameras, those townships, villages and municipalities pay the county back for the cameras in their area.
"It has grown because it is effective, but as the sheriff said, there are some things that are out of our control that I think, as she mentioned, these controls will help us make sure that everyone is using it properly, including the data it collects from us," Orue said.
The sheriff said there is no timeline on the pause, and she'd like to get the cameras back up soon because she said they're integral in solving crimes, but she first wants citizens to be heard and guardrails to be put in place.
"I want to be certain that I'm bringing them back because I do believe that they do help us solve crimes; they help us find people. It's great technology to use, and when we get some guardrails on it, which we will because I'm going to push for that ... I'm going to contact Flock, and I'm going to keep the pressure on them to get this done for every law enforcement agency in the nation," McGuffey said.
McGuffey said she also plans to contact the Ohio legislature to write some legislation to have more transparency about the guardrails.
Hamilton County's pause with Flock comes as many communities in the Tri-State have recently ended their partnership with the cameras.
Just last week, Fort Thomas Mayor Andy Ellison announced that the city will discontinue its use of Flock cameras, citing a shift in the network advantage that made the system valuable and acknowledging residents' privacy concerns. The city of Newport also removed the automated license plate reader technology in July.
Residents in Hamilton gathered to protest Flock cameras in August, and Milford residents are also calling for the removal of the cameras despite the city's police chief defending them.
