COVINGTON, Ky. — Covington city leaders voted down funding Tuesday night for automatic license plate readers used by the Covington Police Department, following a lengthy public discussion at a packed Covington City Hall meeting.
The new funding would have brought four cruiser-mounted license plate readers to the Covington Police Department over the next 10 years. However, it would have simply been an upgrade to the same technology the department has already used for more than a decade.
WATCH: Covington community discussion leads to end of automatic license plate reader use by Covington Police Department
"The technology is extremely different from Flock. Flock is a national network used by federal, state, and local agencies," Sebastian Torres with the city of Covington explained to WCPO 9 News. "The ones that we've been using for the last 15 years and the ones that would be used in the future, would be locally kept and only accessible for legitimate law enforcement reasons."
Neighbors spoke both in opposition and in support of the technology ahead of Tuesday night's vote.
"Now I've heard one of the popular arguments. 'My smartphone already knows where I am.' But there's a difference here that matters. My phone is mine," Covington neighbor Chris Kelly argued.
"Look at the number of communities that have turned down similar plans in the past few months," Covington neighbor Paul Long said.
Covington neighbor Jessica Turner said the readers are "important tools for both the officers and the community."
Members of the Covington Police Department highlighted the crime-solving capabilities of the cruiser-mounted license plate readers.
"It can give us a lead where there isn't one. It can help us find a dangerous person before they hurt somebody else," one Covington PD detective explained. "It can help us eliminate an innocent person from an investigation."
Some neighbors called for the funding vote to be postponed yet again until the city could further examine the technology and its risks.
"Table this until you have done more research," one resident said.
Covington neighbor Bill Stone said he hoped the city would follow best practices going forward.
"It's here and it's not going away, but I hope that we can use best practices," Stone said.
However, the city opted to instead end its use of the technology, while approving funding instead for new drone technology, body worn cameras, tasers, and more for Covington PD.
