LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Clark County School District Police Department is expected to start using Flock Safety cameras in its investigations, a school district spokesperson confirmed to Channel 13.
In an email, a district spokesperson wrote that newly-appointed Police Chief Jeff Clark "is reviewing all CCSDPD procedures, including the use of FLOCK® System cameras."
A memo shared with the CCSD Police Department on Monday and obtained by Channel 13 lays out how CCSDPD intends for the cameras to be used.
The memo states the cameras will only be accessed by the Investigations Bureau to look at cameras in the Clark County and Las Vegas area. Those cameras are owned, maintained, and funded by local agencies and businesses and CCSDPD is given share-only access to available cameras.
"CCSD and CCSDPD do not have FLOCK System cameras on any district properties and do not own, lease, or otherwise maintain any FLOCK System cameras within their jurisdiction," the memo states in part.
The only reasons the cameras should be accessed, according to the memo, is:
- surveillance for an assigned investigation
- investigation of an assigned case
- follow-up investigation of an assigned case
- establishing a pattern of conduct for a suspect by documenting vehicle whereabouts
- attempts to locate / identify a suspect vehicle during active investigations
- any other approved law enforcement-related reason with an assigned case number
"Access for any reason that does not relate to an assigned case number is prohibited," the memo states. "This includes accessing or using any portion of the FLOCK System for personal use, assisting another person for personal use, or assisting another person for an unauthorized professional use."
While the memo lays out how the cameras will be used, it does not lay out any policies or procedures for what happens if they are not used according to the department's guidelines.
Flock Safety cameras have been in use in the Las Vegas Valley since at least 2023, when the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department entered into an agreement with Flock. But the cameras have been at the center of debate across the country in recent weeks as Americans push back on how their movements are being observed in their communities — and how law enforcement is using the data the cameras provide.
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Matthew Cavedon, the director of the Cato Institute's Project on Criminal Justice, cited a viral Super Bowl ad as one example. Cavedon says public backlash from the ad prompted Ring to cancel a planned partnership with Flock Safety.
"There was such an uproar about this. This was way before the conversations we're having about Flock now," Cavedon said. "The company actually backed down and, 'all right, we're not going to do this feature,' because people were creeped out by the idea that you could just turn on everybody's cameras in the neighborhood and watch them."
According to a February report by the Nevada Independent, LVMPD operates approximately 200 Flock license plate reader cameras on city or county infrastructure and shares that data with hundreds of state and local law enforcement agencies across the country.
The department was questioned about the cameras during a city council meeting earlier this year, where local officials brought up concerns about public trust.
"We have to try to educate the community and get feedback to overcome those issues," Asst. Sheriff Dori Koren said. "The feedback we're getting from victims and the community is overwhelming support. Beyond having a data retention period and transparency and auditing mechanisms, I think the other thing we do to address public trust is we need to better educate people on the perceptions in our community."
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Cavedon says the technology is now expanding to industries beyond law enforcement, which is causing additional concerns.
"So Walmart might have an agreement to share this information with their local law enforcement. Local law enforcement might have an agreement with the FBI to share it with them or, this has been particularly controversial with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security," Cavedon said. "So, it's entirely possible that Walmart might have nothing to do with immigration enforcement, but they're sharing it with somebody who's sharing it with somebody who's sharing it with somebody who is."
He added third-party data brokers could also use this technology to sell your data and personal information.
Cavedon said there are about 135,000 Flock cameras operating across the United States, and that number continues to grow.
"A lot of that was done without democratic transparency, without accountability," Cavedon said. "Part of the problem is the bureaucracy is growing to meet the needs of the bureaucracy, so who do you call?"
Could Congressional action have an impact?
"Congress could absolutely say that we're not going to fund any sort of recording, or we're going to require you to have X, Y, Z, safeguards in place if you want to qualify for a federal grant, and we're going to cut off your funding if you don't," Cavedon said. "So, there are options there."
As for the long-term future of the cameras, Cavedon said they probably aren't going away anytime soon.
"I don't think we're really at the point where it's going to be a national debate over whether to abolish these. Communities should have the choice to weigh the pros and cons for themselves and decide that," Cavedon said. "But realistically, I think that they're going to be part of the tapestry that we have for law enforcement."