Hayden has no plans to install Automatic License Plate Recognition cameras, Mayor Alan Davis said, but some residents Tuesday still wanted assurances it wouldn't happen.

“What are you going to do to protect us in the future?” said Michelle Davis of Hayden during a City Council meeting at City Hall.

Amy McCamly shared a similar sentiment.

“Since Hayden has no policy in place at this time, anything could happen,” McCamly said. “You may not have the intention of (installing cameras), and I appreciate that. It'd be great to have a policy placed in the future so this doesn't happen.”

Hayden does not currently utilize ALPR technology and is not presently considering implementation, according to a city briefing. "No procurement, policy direction, vote, or other Council action is requested. This briefing is provided solely to support awareness and informed discussion of the technology, Idaho law, public-safety uses, and privacy implications."

Not all residents at the meeting were against ALPRs. 

Deborah Rose said she had wrongly been accused of an act, and an ALPR camera could have helped avoid the incident.

“I think that the position right now is a good one to kind of sit on but do keep in mind if you ever decide to consider installing them, that there are some positives to them,” Rose said. “I think there’s pluses and minuses and you have to weigh them both.”

Councilmembers repeatedly reiterated their opposition to their installation. 

Councilman David Erickson said he originally came from Costa Mesa, Calif., where there has been massive dissent against the city’s use of Flock cameras. He said many people had reached out to him expressing opposition to the use of the surveillance measures.

“I completely understand that that assists in law enforcement finding criminals who are traveling through our neighborhood potentially,” Erickson said. “I do not like the idea of driving around my town and cameras, at the very basic implementation of it, recording my license plate, tracking my routines, where I go, that sort of thing.”

Councilman Tom Shafer cited nationwide incidents of the technology being abused or misused, including a man in Toledo, Ohio, who was held at gunpoint by police, attacked by a police dog and hospitalized after Flock cameras mistook his license plate for that of a stolen vehicle.

“I think we should have a policy statement, and then discuss among council, with the help of legal, what we can do as a city to create a code that will protect not only citizens today, but citizens in the future from this kind of technology, because it's only going to get more invasive if we do not keep going,” Shafer said.

Councilor Ed DePriest raised concerns about social media comments calling for violence against politicians who are in favor of the cameras. DePriest cited a comment calling for the violent removal of politicians from office at gunpoint and that bullets would be the only way to get their attention to stop ALPRs.

“Bullets and guns on elected people related to cameras is the way to get our attention? That is what concerns me probably more than cameras in Hayden because we aren't going to have cameras in Hayden,” DePriest said. “We have a real issue with a growing segment of the population who is calling anybody who suggests differently ‘commies, liberals, RINOs’ need to be addressed with bullets and guns. What has happened to this community?”

The City Council agreed to look into what can legally be done to prevent Flock or any other entity, public or private, from using ALPRs to surveil citizens.

“My concern is that in future years, future decades, that leaders could come along, whether on council or future mayors, that might have a different perspective, might be more open to using technology that invites corporations that profit off of data collection that goes above and beyond what's beneficial," Erickson said.

    Hayden City Councilman Ed DePriest speaks during Tuesday's meeting.
  

    Hayden resident Amy McCamly speaks out in opposition to Flock and other ALPR cameras.