Springfield police chief hopes to come to agreement with community over cameras

Springfield Police Chief Jami Resch plans to continue having community conversations about automated license-plate reader cameras that have been installed in the city but not yet turned on. 

“And we’re going to see if we can design our program in a way that people feel comfortable with,” Resch said during a Springfield City Club program on Thursday, Nov. 6. “That they are certain that the information that we have is being stored securely and it’s being used appropriately.”

The chief said she doesn’t have a set time frame for a decision and doesn’t plan to address the city manager until she feels that the department has reached an agreement with the community “on something that they would feel comfortable with.”

“I think there’s going to be give-and-take on both sides,” Resch said. 

Police say the cameras assist in active investigations, such as locating stolen vehicles or suspects in a crime, and they are not used to track individuals’ daily movements. Meanwhile, opponents of the Flock Safety cameras have told the City Council they’re concerned about privacy and how the camera data is shared, particularly in cases involving immigration and reproductive rights.

More than 20 people attended the City Club event at Roaring Rapids Pizza Company in Glenwood. Resch gave a brief presentation on the cameras and then spent the remainder of the hour answering questions from attendees. Springfield City Club programs are open to the public and take place on the first and third Thursday of each month. They are also livestreamed. 

The Springfield Police Department installed 24 of the cameras throughout the city in September. The cameras were turned on for calibration and validation before being deactivated “until a broader community discussion takes place,” the police department said at the time. The city is leasing the cameras from Flock Safety with state grant money.

The City Council Monday, Oct. 20, discussed the use of automated license-plate cameras by law enforcement and asked city staff to return to council with a proposal that includes more guardrails on the technology. 

Resch said during the city club program that she will take direction from the City Council on guardrails it would like to see, such as which departments could access Springfield’s license-plate reader data. 

Resch said she believes the license-plate technology is “important and that it is very helpful in law enforcement. I also know that any law enforcement tool has to be used appropriately, and otherwise the community doesn’t trust it, and so I want to make sure that I’m having these conversations with our community members and that we’re building a program that is very useful for the police department but is still also trusted by the community.”

Resch said that during the time Eugene’s Flock cameras were turned on, they helped solve Springfield cases. The Eugene City Council voted last month to recommend that the city manager turn off the city’s license-plate reader cameras, about five months after they’d gone live. 

“I don’t want the technology to get lost in the concerns that folks have with the current company,” she said.