Trenton Police Chief Defends Use of Flock Surveillance Cameras

Our Take

WCPO 9's segment gives Trenton Police Chief Patrick Carr a friendly platform to defend his department's Flock Safety network, and credit to the station for at least putting a local official on record. But "it helps us solve crimes" is the same line every chief gives, and it's never really been in dispute — the question is what it costs the public in privacy, and whether anyone in town actually voted to build a permanent log of everywhere residents drive.

Notice what's missing from these defenses: how long the plate scans are retained, who else can query them, whether the data's shared with federal agencies or other departments outside city limits, and what happens when the system misfires and sends officers to detain the wrong car at gunpoint — something that's happened in plenty of other Flock towns. A chief "advocating" for his own department's toy isn't oversight, it's a sales pitch dressed up as a news segment.

If Trenton has Flock cameras near you, they're probably already on our map, and if your city council hasn't had a real public debate about this system, that's the actual story worth covering. Check take action for how to push for transparency before your town's chief goes on TV to defend a decision residents never got to make.