Lexington policymakers have embraced the use of the plate readers, commonly referred to as FLOCK cameras — touting police data which show the device is helping to recover more than two dozen missing persons, hundreds of stolen cars, and providing more than 100 leads in investigations since their launch in 2022.
But some state lawmakers want more eyes on the devices themselves. Rep.John Hodgson, sponsor of House Bill 20, says his bill would limit how long police can keep the data on file, unless it's being used in a criminal investigation or a handful of other exceptions.
"This basically just says you can't keep it for longer than 60 days, and you can't sell it outside of the law enforcement community. Right right now, there's no restrictions on that. We rely on the goodwill of the vendors who have that policy in place now, but this would, make it illegal to do that," the Republican told a House committee Tuesday.
But Hodgson's bill goes further, casting a broader net when it comes to other forms of tracking.
"It prevents a couple of other kinds of tracking, like people driving dropping micro trackers in your pocket to track your person or putting one on your vehicle as well as subcutaneous trackers," he said. "So basically, we're trying to avoid the non-consensual tracking of the movements of American citizens."
It doesn't appear the bill would lead to many, if any, changes to current policy in Lexington.
LPD say the city's plate readers take photos of car license plates as they drive by and cross-reference the numbers with plates associated with crimes. In most cases, they say the data is held for no longer than 30 days — again, with exceptions when the data become part of ongoing investigations.
