Frederick Miller III conducts Indianapolis Flock camera tours on bike. In July, he led around 75 people on his first tour. His second tour, between Halloween and the midterm election, only had 3 riders. He shows people where cameras are and talks about how they’re used.
The cameras read license plates to help law enforcement solve crimes, but officers have been charged with using them to track people for personal reasons.
“My goal has been to get people from the city council to be part of the tours because it's really up to the city council and the police department on how this technology works,” Miller said.
Indianapolis City-County Councilor Jesse Brown took both tours. He introduced an ordinance to establish city oversight. He said he’s been frustrated it did not make the agenda.
“Since July, they've been keeping this off of the council's agenda every month, so that we don't put new guardrails in about Flock cameras,” Brown said.
Miller’s tour and Brown’s ordinance are just two of many initiatives across the state seeking more transparency and regulations.
Now Brown and Council Vice President John Barth are partnered to take up the issue. They led a community meeting on Tuesday Nov. 10 to receive input from the public on a policy they drafting together.
Barth said they aim to bring more transparency and put guardrails around the technology.
“One of the elements that we want to add is before any surveillance technology contracts can be put into place and accepted – that there be a public meeting,” he said. “The public can come in and share their thoughts about the technology prior to it actually being, the contract being executed.”
Public concern rose in September after the Indianapolis Police Department arrested five officers for misuse of Flock cameras.
In September, IMPD Chief Tanya Terry told WFYI the department will hold people accountable, “nobody is above the law". She said she supports lawmakers creating statewide safeguards for responsible use of the technology.
“I think that there should be some minimum standards that we all abide by. That's the expectation of the community,” Terry said.
IMPD presented the Indianapolis General Orders Board a draft of a new Flock policy Oct. 20. An early draft obtained by WFYI underlines the prohibition for personal use and provides new search-auditing guardrails. The department said in an email it is currently operating under those policies.
It also provided WFYI an Automated License Plate Reader Successes document that shows Flock cameras were used to solve crimes, including fatal hit and runs, armed robberies and a kidnapping.
For Miller, he will pause his tours until spring. Through the winter, he said he’ll share information through livestream sessions on youtube.
Miller said he hopes to see change while maintaining a peaceful environment.
“I think that we have a history in our country of different types of revolutions and changes. For me, we have to do it based on what identifies with us, what we feel is most comfortable, and what pushes us to grow,” Miller said.
Contact WFYI reporting intern Kahmara Munn at kmunn@ wfyi.org.
Reporter Zak Cassel contributed to this reporting.
