The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office will present on its Flock Safety license plate reader camera network to Anderson Township trustees Thursday, giving residents a chance to hear directly about a surveillance tool that has expanded across the township since 2023.
The presentation, listed on the township's website, comes after Trustee Vice Chair Katie Nappi acknowledged growing community interest at the June 25 meeting. According to meeting minutes, Nappi said she had received an increase in emails from residents about the cameras and indicated the topic needed to be addressed at a future meeting.
The meeting begins at 2:30 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room. Trustee Chair Dee Stone, Vice Chair Nappi and Trustee Tom Hodges are listed on the agenda.
What's already in place
Anderson Township's Flock camera network has grown significantly since the Sheriff's Office first installed six cameras in the township. As of August 2025, 16 cameras were operational along township roadways, with the township paying $3,000 per year for 10 of them using funds from the 2024 Public Safety levy. Trustees voted in 2025 to add eight more locations.
The cameras are solar-powered, fixed units placed in plain sight along public roads. They capture license plates, vehicle make and color and visit timestamps. They do not use facial recognition and do not capture images of people.
Since 2023, more than 20 stolen vehicles have been recovered in Anderson Township through Flock alerts, according to Cpl. Matt Alexander of the Sheriff's Office. In the year before November 2023, the system generated 286 hits for missing persons, warrants, and stolen vehicles or plates in the township's patrol area.
Privacy safeguards and concerns
Flock data is encrypted and stored for 30 days. Every search requires a legitimate criminal justice purpose and can be audited. The system is prohibited from being used for immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement, harassment or targeting based on race, sex or religion.
Anderson Township's cameras connect to a national network of more than 26,000 Flock cameras. If a vehicle flagged in another state passes a local camera, the system can generate an alert here.
That connectivity has drawn scrutiny nationally. The Electronic Frontier Foundation documented cases in 2025 where agencies elsewhere used Flock's network to track protesters and conduct discriminatory searches, sparking a congressional investigation and litigation.
Lt. Downing acknowledged the tension in the August 2025 newsletter: "I am very aware of the checks and balances that must occur in the balance of privacy and public safety. It's an area in which we need to be extremely careful."
What's at stake
The presentation arrives as Anderson Township deepens its investment in the technology. The township renewed its three-year police protection contract with the Sheriff's Office in April 2025 at $4.9 million annually, with a projected rise to $5.9 million by 2028. That contract specifically called for a significant increase in Flock camera use.
