Eugene and Springfield will soon have new AI-powered license plate readers that will make ‘digital fingerprints’ of cars

Eugene and Springfield police have purchased license plate readers that use AI to make digital fingerprints of vehicles. Police say they're a tool to gather objective evidence and they’ve already helped solve a violent crime.

Privacy advocates fear the system – which is linked to a nationwide network – could put Oregon’s vulnerable residents at risk.

The cameras–small black devices powered with solar panels–use AI to capture make, model, color, unique characteristics like damage or bumper stickers, as well as license plate numbers. According to the company, it can also make digital fingerprints of bicycles.

All that data will go into a searchable database maintained by Georgia-based Flock Safety for 30 days. That company now has contracts with Eugene and Springfield Police Departments, as well as law enforcement agencies and  homeowners associations across the country.

Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner said Flock is still in the process of installing Eugene’s 57 cameras, but the department has already used the system to apprehend suspects in two crimes; a robbery and a double homicide.

"We could have flooded our streets with 20, 30, 40 cops looking for this vehicle, but we didn't,” Skinner said. “What we did was we plugged it into the system and we let the technology do that for us. When you think about resource management, and how you leverage your resources, I think being a resource multiplier is a fair and accurate representation."

Skinner said he anticipates the cameras will help police gather more evidence, and potentially deter crime, despite staffing challenges.

According to the company’s terms of use policy, local governments own the data they collect and are also in charge of deciding who has access. Skinner said Eugene may look up specific vehicles on behalf of other departments or agencies, but it won’t allow direct access.

"I'm really confident based on the way our contract is written with them that Flock is not farming out our data that we have here in Eugene somewhere else,” Skinner said. “If some other jurisdiction felt like they had somebody in Eugene, had a car associated with an individual, they would call us and we would add that to the hot sheet."

Courtesy of Flock Safety

Kelly Simon, Legal Director for ACLU Oregon, said a Flock camera sitting on a commuter road, near a healthcare facility or a place of worship can capture a lot of private information that people might not want the government to know about them.

She said law enforcement looking to buy those, or any other powerful new technology, should ask the public for input first.

"We're seeing these things rolled without conversation and that's a real problem,” Simon said. “It means that we can't figure out that middle road where we get to balance the public safety needs that police are saying they're identifying based on the work that they do and the civil liberties concerns that the community is saying 'hey, woah slow down that's going to far.'"

A recent investigation from 404 Media found Immigration and Customs Enforcement had gained access to Flock data from across the country with the help of local police departments. That outlet also reported that a sheriff’s department in Texas used Flock’s network of cameras in an attempt to locate a woman who had an abortion.

Simon said Eugene, and other police departments in Oregon looking into the technology, may unwittingly expose information about marginalized visitors and residents if they join Flock’s network. She said even with restrictions on database access, partnerships with previously trusted federal agencies, like the FBI, could result in Flock data being used to enforce laws contrary to Oregon’s values.

"At the end of the day, the things that we deeply value and we're trying to build our future around, things like immigrant justice, trans justice, racial justice, religious freedom, reproductive freedom, freedom of expression, these are things that fundamentally incompatible with mass surveillance and that's what Flock is," said Simon.

Both Eugene and Springfield used Oregon Criminal Justice Commission Organized Retail Theft grants to purchase cameras.

Springfield Police Lt. George Crolly said in an email to KLCC that the department bought 25 cameras that will be rolled out over the next few months. He said the cameras will be used for retail theft investigations, stolen vehicles, major crimes and Amber Alerts. He said the department will follow Oregon’s Sanctuary Promise Act, which bars law enforcement from helping with immigration enforcement.

“The [License Plate Reader] system will help [Springfield Police Department] investigate crimes by providing the objective evidence needed to clear cases,” Crolly wrote. “Each search of the system requires justification, and the data is never sold or shared outside of law enforcement.”

According to documents obtained by KLCC through a public records request, Springfield bought 24 regular Flock cameras and one that can detect speed.

Eugene has not yet fulfilled KLCC’s request for its Flock records.

A spokesperson for the Lane County Sheriff said the department is considering whether to purchase Flock cameras, but has not yet made a decision.

Other cities across the region, including Oregon City and Florence, have started rolling out the system over the last year. Flock also sells its systems to private businesses, including some in Oregon.

Skinner says Eugene’s cameras were primarily purchased to deal with retail theft, but police could use them for Amber Alerts and violent crime. He says there are no plans to use them for traffic enforcement, and they’ll be located on major arterials.

Eugene Police’s Flock Camera system will fully launch in July.