CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Franklin County Sheriff Ben Sites is expected to appear before Franklin County commissioners Aug. 19 amid growing public questions over the county’s use of Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras.
Commission Chair Dean Horst announced Thursday that Sites will give a presentation during the commissioners’ evening meeting. District Attorney Ian Brink has also agreed to attend to discuss legal issues surrounding the cameras, and Horst said officials were attempting to bring in another legal representative.
The announcement followed a second consecutive week of public criticism of the camera system. Austin McDaniel, 23, argued that aggregating license plate information with other data to track people’s movements raises Fourth Amendment privacy concerns, while Valerie Jordan of Fayetteville called for the sheriff’s Flock contract to be made publicly available.
John Jordan questioned both the cost of the cameras and whether operating an automated license plate reader network should be a priority for the Sheriff’s office.
“I think that maybe we should have more public input and more looking into before we jump into a Flock camera thing,” Jordan said.
Horst encouraged residents on both sides of the issue to attend the Aug. 19 meeting.
“For those who agree or disagree, please come in and hear the presentation,” Horst said. “That way we can hear them from the community.”
McDaniel’s group, DeFlock Franklin County had scheduled a Chambersburg protest on Saturday but postponed it due to bad weather.
