Dozens of Massachusetts police departments are using AI-powered license plate readers to solve crimes faster as some communities push back on the technology.
Flock Safety technology is currently active in more than 80 cities and towns across the state.
The automated cameras are discreetly mounted and monitor passing vehicles around the clock. In Quincy, the Police Department has installed approximately 50 cameras since 2020. These tools have helped local investigators solve motor vehicle hit-and-runs at a rate four times higher than the national average.
Quincy Police Chief Mark Kennedy said the technology has been used to track suspects in violent crimes across the city.
“Shootings, stabbings, homicides, attempted murders, kidnappings, sexual assaults, we’ve been able to track people because of this ALPR technology,” Kennedy said.
He noted that the readers helped track a man accused of kidnapping a 64-year-old woman at Wollaston Station and then sexually assaulting her.
He said Flock Cameras were also pivotal in identifying a suspect in a road rage stabbing within an hour.
Kennedy credited the cameras with a significant increase in solved cases involving drivers who flee the scene of an accident.
“We’ve cleared more than 40% of our motor vehicle hit and runs, which I know doesn’t sound like a lot, but the national average of solving a hit and run is about 8 to 10%,” Kennedy said.
The department purchased the equipment largely through federal homeland security funding.
Flock Safety allows different agencies to share information through a database and provides immediate alerts for vehicles of interest.
Dan Haley, chief legal officer for Flock Safety, described how the system helped investigators track Claudio Valente, the suspect in a shooting at Brown University, after he fled into New Hampshire.
“We were literally able to query the images from their system for that vehicle and identify the vehicle very quickly and then they added it to what’s called a hot list and were able to determine that the vehicle had left Massachusetts,” Haley told Boston 25 News back in December.
Despite these results, several municipalities have pulled back on using the technology over privacy concerns.
Brookline recently paused its potential use of cameras installed by a private company and Cambridge canceled its contract with Flock Safety after the cameras had already been installed.
Watertown followed suit last month.
Residents we spoke to had mixed reactions to the cameras. Eric Litt of Aquinnah expressed uncertainty about how the collected data might be utilized.
“When they’re helpful for law enforcement, that’s great,” Litt said. “When they’re misused, you now, that is a challenge and unfortunately, we live in a world today where you just don’t know how it’s going to be used.”
“I’m just concerned they need to put more, I guess limits on it. like What are you looking for?” said Anthony McPherson of Mattapan.
Legal experts have questioned the constitutional implications of expanding surveillance networks.
Dan Dolan, a professor at the New England School of Law and a criminal defense lawyer, said there are concerns regarding the collection and management of data.
“There’s this argument that the fighting of crime is a good reason to have the license plate readers,” Dolan said. “And it can help solve crimes. But from a constitutional perspective, that sounds like you’re saying that the ends justify the means.”
In 2020, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that police could track a suspected drug dealer using readers on the Bourne and Sagamore bridges. However, the court cautioned that a larger network capable of tracking a driver’s movement in more detail could trigger protections against warrantless searches.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Norfolk, VA, sided with the city in January in a lawsuit, determining that the cameras did not violate Fourth Amendment rights.
Departments using the technology said they have implemented narrow policies to prevent misuse, such as tracking for immigration or reproductive rights issues.
Kennedy said Quincy uses a transparency portal and limits access to trained personnel.
“Only people in Quincy who are trained in this software and given access to it are allowed to use it, and they have to put in the reason for their search, and we audit it as well,” Kennedy said.
Michael Bradley, executive director of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, has been working with departments to balance safety with civil liberties.
“We encourage, you know, limiting data retention periods,” Bradley said. “Having policies in place to prevent unauthorized access.”
Kennedy added that he would consider installing more cameras in Quincy if additional federal funding becomes available in the future.
Hear more from the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association here in this digital extra:
This browser does not support the video element.
A bill currently gaining traction at the State House would regulate the technology and prohibit agencies from disclosing data unless required by a judicial proceeding.
The legislation also aims to ensure the cameras are not used to track activity protected by the First Amendment. Unlike at least 16 other states, Mass. currently has no law regulating automated license plate recognition.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW