Editor's note: This is a follow-up to our August 28 edition of  The YankeeXpress where we announced the start of the Flock Camera program in Auburn. Days after going to press, Auburn announched the town was terminating the agreement. 

Auburn’s automated license plate reader program, in a matter of weeks, went from being described by police as a valuable new investigative tool to being terminated due to a contractual defect, with no interest in any kind of contract renewal. 

The Auburn Police Department began installing six Flock Safety license plate reader, or LPR, cameras in early July. Four cameras were installed and operational, while two additional cameras were awaiting installation when the town ended its agreement with the company.

According to the town manager’s office, Auburn officials were not considering the programs termination before the contractual issue was discovered.

“Due to a contractual defect, the Town of Auburn has terminated their agreement with Flock,” Town Manager Dori A. Vecchio said in a statement provided by Staff Assistant and Communications Coordinator Kaitlyn Johnson.

Vecchio said the defect could have been resolved and a new contract executed with changes recommended by town counsel. However, after considering issues other municipalities had experienced, the town decided not to enter into a new agreement.

“The decision was that of the police chief in collaboration with the Auburn town manager,” Johnson said when asked whether the police department consulted town officials before terminating the agreement.

The decision contrasts with the department’s initial position on the technology.

Before the agreement was terminated, Police Chief Richard Mills described the cameras as an added investigative resource for Auburn, which sits near several major roadways and interstate highways. He said vehicles involved in crimes in Auburn, surrounding communities, and out of state often travel through town.

“The purpose of implementing the system was to provide officers with an additional investigative tool,” Mills said.

The cameras were installed to capture still images of passing vehicles and attempt to read their license plates. They could also identify vehicle characteristics such as make, model, color and other distinguishing features.

The department previously emphasized that the cameras were not traditional surveillance cameras, meaning they did not continuously record video, use facial recognition, identify drivers or passengers, track cell phones or issue automated traffic citations.

Mills also described several safeguards surrounding the system. Only Auburn officers and civilian dispatchers who were trained on the system could access the information. Data was scheduled to be automatically deleted after 30 days unless it was preserved for investigations or another legitimate law enforcement purpose.

Searches were logged and subject to auditing, and Mills said Auburn had subscribed to Flock’s audit assistance program, which was used by the Auburn Police Department to monitor any system searches.

The department also said outside law enforcement agencies did not automatically have access to Auburn’s data. Requests for access were to be reviewed by Auburn police on a case-by-case basis.

“The data is not freely shared,” Mills said at the time. “We believe we are rather conservative in our sharing.”

The program was said to have been acquired through grant funding. However, after the contract was terminated, the town manager’s office clarified that Auburn had not actually paid for the system.

“The cameras were live for a very short time and payment was not made yet,” Johnson said. “No funds from any source went to this system.”

Mills was asked how much data had been collected, whether any remained, whether information unrelated to active investigations had been deleted, whether Flock retained any Auburn data, whether Auburn was considering another LPR provider and whether the cameras had assisted with any investigations or arrests.

The department chose not to provide specific answers to those questions.

“The program has been terminated due to a procurement issue and mistake made by the Police Department,” Mills said in response. “There was no appetite on the part of the Town to enter into a new contract.”

Mills declined to provide more information about the program, saying, “we will not be issuing any further information about our Flock Camera program.” Adding that the department was, “moving forward and continuing to fulfill our mission and best serve the Auburn community.”

The brief lifespan of Auburn’s Flock program leaves several aspects of its operation unclear, including how much information was collected while the cameras were active and whether any of the data was retained.

The town has not indicated whether it plans to pursue another automated license plate reader provider. As a result of the recently terminated agreement, Auburn’s previously decided upon six-camera network will not become part of the town’s long-term law enforcement infrastructure.

For residents, this provides a different conclusion than the one initially envisioned when the cameras were first installed. What police had characterized as a potentially useful tool for finding stolen vehicles, missing people and vehicles connected to criminal investigations, quickly became of little interest to the police department as soon as a contractual defect was discovered.

The termination was not attributed to the effectiveness of the cameras themselves, but to procurement issue that led Auburn officials to decide against continuing the relationship with the company. Yankee Xpress North will continue to cover future updates on this matter.