(KNOX) – The East Grand Forks City Council approved installing Flock Safety cameras around the city back in May, and East Grand Forks Police Chief Mike Hedlund explained how the police department will be using them at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The cameras will be located at several entrance roads into the city, which includes all of the three bridges that connect between Grand Forks and East Grand Forks. Hedlund says there is a lot of misinformation about these cameras amid nationwide privacy concerns surrounding them. He explains why the departments want to use the cameras.
He also explains only officers who are corporals or higher can run searches off of the camera’s data, and any searches need to have a specific case report number.
Every data search that is made will be reviewed every week to confirm they were conducted for appropriate reasons and the data will be stored for only 30 days. There will also be a transparency portal for community members to access so they can see how many data searches have been conducted on the cameras.
Hedlund also says that those who vandalize or damage the camera will face criminal charges and that it is still being decided on what would be done to replace the cameras.
Data will be able to be shared between law enforcement agencies but that has to be requested. Hedlund referenced that the Minnesota state statute says Minnesota law agencies can share data with other agencies only within the state. East Grand Forks’ policy says the police department would only share data with other agencies that have the same standard.
The police department’s agreement with Flock Safety is for two years and it will cost $28,000. Hedlund also says the money is coming from the asset forfeiture funds and not the police department’s direct budget.
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