Flock cameras have become so controversial that the Village of Constantine has recently had to reassure its residents that it hasn’t decided to install one.
Constantine Police Chief Dan Thayer sought to ease worries with a Facebook post Wednesday. First, Thayer noted the village was not involved in any way. He says the state of Michigan has installed a device at the corner of South Washington and Sixth streets.
But the chief says the camera-looking device isn’t a camera. Instead, it’s a high-tech motion sensor for detecting traffic that tells the traffic signal to change lights for less-common traffic coming on Sixth Street.
Thayer says the old mechanism for that is underground, and these pole-mounted motion sensors are easier to maintain and repair.
Hoosiers who’d like to see where Flock cameras are in their communities can now visit a website launched by the nonprofit Eyes Off Indiana, at eyesoffindiana.org.
The group is lobbying the Indiana General Assembly for statewide minimum safeguards on police license plate readers, while each community keeps the power to go further or reject the cameras entirely.
