Normal Police reveal policy for use of license plate reading cameras

Posted on July 5, 2022

*The council is expected to vote on buying the cameras and adopting the policy at its July 18 meeting. (Photo Courtesy of Flock Safety and Town of Normal)*

By HOI ABC

NORMAL (Heart of Illinois ABC) – The Normal Police Department is trying to answer privacy concerns about Automated License Plate Readers before the town council votes later this month whether to buy the crime-fighting cameras.

Police on Friday shared the guidelines they developed “in an effort to continue full transparency with the community,” the department said in a news release.

The department pledges data obtained from the cameras won’t be shared or sold with third parties. The department said information will only be used to solve and reduce property and violent crimes, and are not intended for minor traffic or parking violations.

The policy states:

“The Procedures of the Normal Police Department will ensure the proper use of ALPR systems for the protection of the people and property of the Town of Normal, while maintaining the highest respect for the privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of those whose data is collected by the system.”

Department members violating the policy face possible disciplinary action.

The entire policy is posted on the Town of Normal’s website.

Police said its policy is similar to those enacted by other Central Illinois police agencies.

The Normal Town Council during a work session last month listened to a presentation by vendor Flock Safety, which installed cameras in other communities including Peoria, East Peoria, Pekin, Bloomington and LeRoy.

Flock Safety presentation to Normal Town Council(Flock Safety and Town of Normal)

The council is expected to vote on buying the cameras and adopting the policy at its July 18 meeting.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…