MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio — New data from Middleburg Heights Police Chief Ed Tomba shows the license-plate readers, or flock cameras, are effective at catching criminals.
“I think it’s a really good tool for the city of Middleburg Heights,” said Tomba.
It even keeps people in the community like Penny Szunyogh safe.
“Let’s catch the bad guys if there’s warrants out for their arrest,” said Szunyogh. “I don’t feel like it's big brother watching, or anything like that. It’s just an asset to help the police.”
Just recently, Tomba said the city’s flock cameras helped his officers catch two suspects in Middleburg Heights, who he said were wanted for a robbery in Cleveland.
“Sure, enough came off of 1-71, came into the city and the officers made a traffic stop over on 130th, detained a couple of individuals and recovered a couple of weapons and some narcotics,” said Tomba.
While this technology has been around for several years in Middleburg Heights, the chief said new data shows these cameras are effective in areas of concern.
He even said they help officers respond in real-time thanks to an immediate alert from the system to let officers know if a vehicle or a person that is attached to a vehicle is crossing in front of one of the city’s cameras.
I asked: “So the question is, is my license plate number in there? Is there like a specific license plate number or is it everybody’s license plate number?”
“Yeah, no your license plate is not in there. All license plates are not in there. It has to be manually entered for a criminal justice purpose,” said Tomba.
Still, different organizations like the ACLU of Ohio question its effectiveness due to concerns with privacy, increased surveillance and misuse of data, which Gary Daniels has shared with News 5 in the past.
“Automatic license plate readers have tremendous capacity if they are tweaked or set up in such a way to monitor our daily whereabouts,” said ACLU Spokesperson Gary Daniels.
Alli King said she understands some of the ACLU’s concerns, but also sees the benefits of the flock cameras.
“Cameras anywhere can kind of be an invasion of privacy,” said King. “But on the flip side if something bad happens you want to have that recall.”
Meanwhile, Patrick Cunningham said he supports the cameras as long as it’s not being used to catch people for minor traffic violations.
“I think that’s kind of stepping over the line,” said Cunningham. “But as far as getting felons off the street, I think that’s a good thing.”
The chief told News 5 the city is considering installing more flock cameras in different areas across the city.
