Skokie Police Outline Flock Camera Use, Limits At Village Meeting

SKOKIE, IL — Skokie police gave village officials and residents an overview of how the department uses Flock cameras and automated license plate reader technology, saying the system is limited, audited and used for investigations.

At the meeting, Deputy Chief of Field Operations John Oakley and Police Chief Jesse Barnes described the village's camera network and how data is handled. The Skokie Police Department uses 27 total cameras, including 20 Flock cameras and seven from other vendors used for traffic safety and red-light enforcement. Barnes said there are no plans to add more cameras.

Police said the technology records vehicle license plate numbers along with the time, date and location of a read. That data is stored for 30 days before it is purged. Officers receive alerts for "hot list" plates connected to stolen vehicles, missing persons or Amber Alerts.

At the meeting, Oakley provided examples of times the Skokie Police Department has used the database, including a time when they were searching for a missing woman.

“A husband called and said his wife was supposed to go get her hair done just down the street in her car at 9 a.m. and she didn't come back after three hours," Oakley said. "We were able to enter her car's information into the ALPR system on a hot list, and almost instantly we were able to see a read on the plate, which happened to be two and a half hours away from Skokie. Without ALPR, we would have had a very difficult time even finding a location of where she might have been. So that was a successful story.”

The police department has also used the technology to recover a stolen car and track a suspect who had threatened Skokie residents with a knife and fled, Oakley said.

Barnes said the department's body-worn cameras and dash cameras are handled through Axon, a separate vendor from Flock. He also said data sharing is limited to in-state Illinois law enforcement partners, and that access for out-of-state agencies and federal or postal inspectors has been restricted to comply with state laws including the Trust Act.

To prevent unauthorized searches, the department requires officers to enter case numbers for all database queries and uses an audit assistance tool to flag outliers. Barnes said he conducts monthly audits through a professional standards commander to monitor officer behavior.

Trustee Lissa Levy raised concerns she said residents expressed to her about whether Flock camera data could be hacked. Barnes said to address that issue, the department restricted access to agencies outside Illinois, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

“As with other law-enforcement technologies, continued review and accountability are important. Our goal is to use this technology responsibly, transparently, and in a manner that supports both public safety and the privacy and civil liberties of the community,” Barnes said

Village officials said a public transparency portal is in development and will provide high-level information, such as monthly plate reads and successful investigations, without releasing sensitive case details.