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AUSTINTOWN -- The township took another step this week toward installing Flock traffic cameras.
While the initial decision to use the controversial technology was made June 1, trustees Monday approved application for right-of-way permits to allow camera poles to be installed.
Police Chief Valorie Delmont said the township has a three-year contract with Flock, at a cost of $18,000 per year for installation, equipment and access to the system.
"Ours are not installed yet," she said. "We're planning on getting a small number, for the main thoroughfares in and out of the township and for the egress at some of the bigger retail theft areas," Delmont said.
Flock cameras capture images of passing vehicles and store them in a searchable database that member police departments can access. Austintown will operate six of the cameras. Law enforcement should use the data to locate vehicles possibly linked to crimes, missing people or other proper investigations.
However, in early August, the Washington Post reported at least 50 officers nationwide have been accused of misusing Flock to spy on people, including spouses, partners and exes.
Under heavy criticism for the abuse potential, Flock Safety said this week it will shorten the default period for storing information about vehicles from 30 days to seven days. The company did, however, state that police departments may opt to maintain a longer data retention period.
While Delmont said she is aware of online criticism of the decision to use Flock, Austintown will permit no such abuses.
"In my opinion, that's an officer of questionable character," she said. "That's not a police department issue, unless that's your employee. I'm confident that our people will not use it that way. I won't tolerate it."
She said all of Austintown's police will be well trained and held to high standards.
"That's why we're taking our time putting it into effect, we're working on the policy that will control its use," she said. "Once that's in place, all officers will have to read and sign off and be responsible for adhering to that policy. And officers have to view Flock's online training and comply with the requirements and testing and knowledge that is needed before they have access to the system."
Delmont said she hopes the technology will give Austintown an advantage in solving cases, finding missing persons, and helping local neighborhoods and businesses stay safer.
"I hope that we can use them to solve crimes that happen, narrow down suspect pools and prove suspects were in certain locations, to have a more solid case," Delmont said. "I see us using them mostly reactively. At this point, we don't have the manpower and the nondirected work time to put into chasing down someone who just comes into the township with a known warrant."
She said the idea is to know what vehicle they are looking for and check the system to see if they can identify that vehicle and track its progress.
She said the township already makes use of the cameras operated by neighboring and overlapping jurisdictions, like Boardman, Youngstown and the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office.
"We're already using the cameras from a mutual aide perspective," Delmont said. "And we're hoping we can now help them out as well."
Departments can grant access to their systems to other departments that have Flock accounts. But Delmont said it is entirely discretionary.
For example, the cameras that will cover state Route 46 and Interstate 80 would likely be of great help to the Ohio State Highway Patrol and Mahoning County Sheriff's Office.
Austintown can grant or deny access to its cameras for any department. Delmont noted that, legally, Austintown is only accountable for its own officers' usage of its cameras and system.
"We have no liability for other departments' employees, should someone else abuse Austintown's cameras," she said. That gives Austintown and other departments an incentive to be selective about how, when, why, and to whom they grant access to their camera system.
Township Administrator Mark D'Apolito notes that in 2025 Flock cameras helped to locate more than 10,000 missing persons, while the company's website notes that 42% of Flock customers recovered more than half of stolen vehicles reported in their jurisdictions. D'Apolito said Flock cameras also have helped to exonerate people accused of crimes by clearly placing them at a different location at the time in question.
"Although this is new to Austintown Police Department, this technology in other ways has been in place at private retailers for quite some time," he said. "I think the law is pretty settled on the topic, and it just comes down to trust. We trust our law enforcement officers here quite a bit. We trust them with a badge and a gun. We have an outstanding track record of officers in Austintown, and this just enhances our ability to solve crime and protect residents."
D'Apolito said this type of technology also produces the kind of evidence jurors have come to expect in court cases.
"The public has an expectation to see some of this evidence," he said. "I remember when DNA first was in use, and people had objections to that, and now it's considered the gold standard of evidence."
CUTRONA BILL
With the use of Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras coming under scrutiny, state Sen. Al Cutrona said he plans to introduce legislation to ensure information they collect is used appropriately.
Cutrona, R-Canfield, said: "Ensuring that the rights and privacy of citizens is upheld is the default standard in a government that is of, by and for the people. The legislation will prohibit any government entity collecting Flock camera data from sharing it with a third party or for personal use."
Cutrona said his proposal wouldn't permit any government agency in the state that uses Flock cameras to share data with an outside party or for such an entity to solicit the data. Also, the data could only be saved in the system for up to 10 days before being automatically deleted.
Currently, Flock cameras typically store information and are deleted on a rolling 30-day basis.
Cutrona said anyone caught using Flock cameras or its collected data for personal use -- rather than as part of an active law enforcement case -- could be charged with a fourth-degree felony, which is punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
It's going to be difficult for this proposed legislation to get passed this year as the General Assembly doesn't plan to meet until after the Nov. 3 election. Any bill introduced this year that doesn't get passed by Dec. 31 would have to be reintroduced for the 2027-28 legislative session.
A number of law enforcement agencies in the Mahoning Valley use Flock cameras, including Youngstown, Warren, Austintown, Boardman, Canfield Township, Cortland, Girard, Liberty, Niles and North Jackson.