St. Joseph County’s Republican candidates for sheriff and prosecutor say Flock cameras are a great tool, but they’re open to more guardrails.
Sheriff candidate Rod Laureys says Flock cameras helped him track down a violent suspect, during his time with the ATF. “However, when the government’s in control of things, they get out of control, and that’s a problem I have with the privacy issue of it,” Laureys said during a press conference Friday.
Prosecutor candidate John Maciejczyk said he isn’t fully aware of how the county uses Flock cameras, but he noted that the Supreme Court has placed more restrictions on other things like cell phone location data. “And I think that’s a similar type of privacy concern that the courts will be looking at with regard to Flock cameras,” Maciejczyk said.
Laureys, currently a St. Joseph County police officer, promised to form a drug unit, share weekly social media videos about recent crimes and to “back up” his officers. "If they are proactive, they get in trouble," Laureys said. "That’s going to change. I want officers to be proactive."
Maciejczyk, a former chief deputy prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney, promised to hold monthly meetings with police chiefs, share statistics monthly with the public and boost training for younger prosecutors.
St. Joseph County Republicans formally added Maciejczyk to the ballot Friday, after he withdrew from a previous party caucus. He said he was concerned he’d lose time with his family, but he agreed to sign up again, after meeting with party officials.
“I know it looks like I’m going back and forth, which I did, but it’s just because this is going to be a big job,” Maciejczyk explained.
Laureys will face South Bend Police Chief, Democrat Scott Ruszkowski, in the general election. Maciejczyk will face current chief deputy prosecutor, Democrat Amy Cressy.
