Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa is the latest local official to weigh in on the use of Flock cameras and other automated license plate reader (ALPR) surveillance technology. In a statement issued this week, Figueroa sought to draw a distinction between Flock cameras and the ALPR systems currently used by his agency, calling the technology vital for finding missing persons, solving violent crimes and other legitimate law enforcement uses.

“As your sheriff, I would never advocate the use of Flock cameras. However, I am committed to the use of other license plate reader technology,” Figueroa wrote in the four-page statement. “In fact, I can say without reservation that ALPR technology has become one of the most valuable investigative tools available to modern law enforcement.”

Automated license plate readers are cameras that capture and log images of plates on all passing vehicles. The systems are tied into larger networks and can be used to provide police with real time updates from “hot lists” of plates identified with missing persons or criminal suspects, or to reconstruct a vehicle’s past movements as part of a criminal investigation.

Flock cameras, which make up about 80 percent of the ALPR market, have advanced capabilities including the ability to identify cars by distinguishing traits like body damage or bumper stickers. Flock cameras can also seek out distinguishing human characteristics including body type and clothing. The company also stores data from its vast network in a database accessible to both law enforcement and private sector clients including repossession companies, digital marketing firms and homeowners associations. While Figueroa said his agency did not and would not use Flock systems, he defended ALPR systems in general.

“For more than two decades, this technology has helped police identify stolen vehicles, locate missing and endangered individuals, investigate violent crimes and develop leads that might otherwise go undiscovered,” wrote Figueroa, who recently backtracked on plans to use part of an $800,000 federal grant to expand an existing ALPR network. “At a time when law enforcement agencies are expected to do more with less, we should be strengthening access to effective public safety tools, not restricting their responsible use.”

Figueroa also defended the sheriff’s office’s protocols for using ALPR technology, saying that they were in-line with rules promulgated by the state Department of Criminal Justice Services for all accredited law enforcement agencies in the state. Those rules, Figueroa said, provide “meaningful guardrails” against abuse, including a requirement that all searches include a case number and the identity of the officer conducting the search. The policy also prohibits sharing data with ICE or other federal law enforcement agencies. ALPR systems, the sheriff said, were just a vastly more efficient means of what had been a basic law enforcement tool since the dawn of the automobile age — recording license plates from vehicles on public roads and comparing them to lists of stolen cars or vehicles associated with criminal suspects.

“The debate over ALPR should not force communities into a false choice between protecting constitutional rights and protecting victims of crime,” Figueroa wrote. “When used appropriately, ALPR helps investigators identify vehicles of interest, follow leads and make better use of limited personnel and resources. It is not a substitute for good investigative work, constitutional policing or relationships with the community. It is an additional capability that can make those efforts more effective.”

Figueroa’s statement comes a few days after County Executive Jen Metzger issued an executive order barring the use of ALPR technology for all departments under her authority saying their potential for abuse and a lack of government regulation or oversight of rapidly advancing AI-assisted technology outweighed any benefit they might provide. Figueroa supported the order.

In Kingston, where last year the council signed off on a $1.2 million state grant to upgrade and expand the city’s network or ALPRs and surveillance cameras, Police Chief Egidio Tinti appeared before an August meeting of the Common Council’s Public Safety Committee to answer detailed questions about the department’s use of both technologies. He was joined by Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji who argued in favor of ALPRs, calling them an important tool for protecting public safety.