At residents’ request, Kane sheriff removing Flock cameras from Geneva-area neighborhood

Automated license plate-reading cameras are being removed from the Mill Creek subdivision in near Geneva, the Kane County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.

The move comes after the Mill Creek Special Service Area Advisory Board voted Monday to ask that the sheriff’s five Flock cameras be taken out of the neighborhood.

“While ALPR cameras are effective law enforcement tools, the Sheriff's Office recognizes the importance of considering community concerns when determining where and how public safety technology is used,” the sheriff’s office said in Tuesday’s announcement.

Some of the Mill Creek cameras were damaged by vandals earlier this year, and in one instance the phrase “DeFlock!” was painted nearby, a reference to the cameras’ Atlanta-based manufacturer Flock Safety. Similar messages have been painted near other vandalized cameras in Kane County.

Mill Creek is a 2,100-acre residential subdivision west of Geneva and Batavia with about 3,150 homes.

According to its Flock transparency page, the sheriff’s office has 25 license plate-reading cameras that generated 450,242 unique plate hits in the last 30 days.

The sheriff’s announcement comes a day after DuPage County prosecutors announced indictments against two former suburban police officers — in Itasca and West Chicago — on official misconduct charges alleging they misused Flock camera data.

The cameras capture images of passing vehicles’ license plates and enter them in a database, which law enforcement can search to track a vehicle’s whereabouts. Police have said they’re an invaluable tool in solving crime and locating missing persons, but critics point to instances of abuse by some officers and cite concerns about unlawful surveillance of citizens.

ssarkauskas@dailyherald.com