REGIONAL— St. Louis County residents have long assumed that a drive through the North Country’s forests and back roads is theirs alone, free from the kind of surveillance that has become an ever-expanding reality in more urban settings.
But the watchful eye of law enforcement has spread into St. Louis County with the installation of remote cameras that are methodically logging every license plate that passes by. Installation of the cameras, manufactured by Flock Safety, began a little over two years ago, with ten currently operating throughout the county, including one at the intersection of County Rd. 77 and Lost Lake Rd., in Greenwood Township, and another at the intersection of County Rd. 21 and Wahlsten Rd., in Embarrass. St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said the camera locations were selected “based on traffic patterns, investigative needs, roadway access, and strategic locations where they would provide the greatest public safety benefit.
The cameras cost the sheriff’s office $3,000 each, per year.
The cameras are designed as automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs, and they have proven to be an effective law enforcement tool, according to Ramsay. “The cameras have assisted deputies in locating stolen vehicles, identifying vehicles associated with criminal investigations, and locating individuals with outstanding warrants,” said Ramsay. “They have generated investigative leads that have helped our deputies solve crimes more efficiently. It’s important to understand that license plate readers are simply one investigative tool among many. They do not replace police work—they provide information that investigators must verify through traditional investigative methods.”
Ramsay said he has firsthand experience with the cameras from his time as police chief in Duluth. “We installed license plate readers in several patrol vehicles in 2012, and that technology played a significant role in locating a vehicle involved in the abduction of a 12-year-old child by a convicted sex offender,” he said. “That case reinforced for me how valuable these systems can be when every minute matters.”
Privacy concerns
The use of ALPRs has been controversial in some states, with concerns raised about possible misuse of data, possible selling of data for commercial purposes, and violations of privacy. The nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation has reported instances where law enforcement has utilized Flock’s ALPRs to monitor travel by political protesters and certain minorities, although the number of those abuses appears to be quite small, and mostly limited to southern states.
In more northerly locations, critics like the American Civil Liberties Union have cited concerns over use of ALPR data by federal officials as part of the Trump administration’s immigration clampdown in major cities.
Such concerns have gained little legal traction to date. Courts have generally ruled that drivers on public roads should have no expectation of privacy. Flock Safety, Inc., the company that produces and operates the cameras for St. Louis County and many other law enforcement agencies around the country, insists that the cameras are designed only to read license plates and do not use facial recognition technology to identify individual drivers, their race, or their gender.
The cameras, however, do scoop up a large amount of data. According to the sheriff’s office, the county’s ten cameras logged 144,394 unique license plates in just the past 30 days. During that time, the sheriff’s office reports that the cameras have detected 1,053 plates flagged in connection with stolen vehicles, drug activity, attempts to locate, or other reasons.
The sheriff’s office does provide considerable information about its use of the cameras on the St. Louis County website at https://www.stlouiscountymn.gov/departments-a-z/sheriff/permits-public-info-data-requests/flock-cameras. The website includes a copy of the policy that governs the operation of the cameras and how the information they obtain is used by law enforcement. The policy indicates that the images gathered by the cameras are for law enforcement use only and may only be accessed by law enforcement personnel who have been trained in its use.
Meanwhile, the policy allows for the use of the data collected by the cameras with or without a finding of probable cause or any reasonable suspicion. The policy, however, does not permit tracking or monitoring of individuals unless done so under a search warrant or due to exigent circumstances. Data is maintained for no more than 60 days and is password protected. According to the sheriff’s office, the data can only be shared with other law enforcement agencies through written requests. The data cannot be shared with third parties outside of law enforcement and it is not considered public information, according to the policy.
“Like many technologies used in law enforcement, license plate readers have generated questions and concerns regarding privacy,” said Ramsay. “Ultimately, my responsibility is to balance individual privacy with public safety. I believe we can—and must—do both. That’s why we’ve emphasized transparency, adopted clear policies, complied with Minnesota’s auditing requirements, and continue to evaluate the program to ensure it provides meaningful value to the citizens of St. Louis County.”
For now, Ramsay said his office has no plans to install more of the cameras, although Ramsay said changes in the program may be adopted as his office evaluates the effectiveness of the cameras. “We are taking a measured approach. Rather than assuming the program should expand or end, we’re evaluating objective results—including investigative value, cost, compliance with state law, and community expectations—before making any long-term decisions.”