Butler Privacy Project
We're asking the Liberty Township Trustees to pause the township-funded license plate reader cameras, release the records, and vote in public on whether to keep them.
Liberty residents are paying for these cameras through the township's police-service funding. Local reporting stated that the township was adding 10 Flock rear license plate readers at an annual cost of about $30,000, added to what it pays the Butler County Sheriff's Office. The current cost, contract terms, renewal status, and camera count remain pending records responses.
That makes it a township decision. The Sheriff's Office may run the cameras day to day, but the Trustees control whether Liberty keeps writing the check. So the Trustees are who we're asking.
This isn't about being against the police. It's about consent, privacy, and keeping an eye on how public money buys surveillance.
We're asking the Board of Trustees to put a resolution on the agenda that would:
Other Ohio communities have already run into problems with how this data gets shared, who's watching it, and whether it's worth renewing. Liberty doesn't need to wait for its own version of that before setting limits.
And the system rarely stays put. Flock's product line already includes vehicle-fingerprint search, video analytics, audio detection, and drone tie-ins. The question isn't only what the cameras do today. It's what the township is signing up to expand later.
These are the questions residents should be able to answer before the township keeps funding the system. Our records requests ask them directly.
I'm a Liberty Township resident, and I'm asking the Board of Trustees to pause, end, and remove the township-funded Flock license plate reader cameras.
I'm not against the police. I support real investigations. I don't support keeping a searchable record of where ordinary residents drive when none of us are suspected of anything.
We're paying for a system that logs people who've done nothing wrong, stores it with a private company, and may hand it to outside agencies. Other Ohio towns have already seen how that goes wrong.
Please suspend the cameras, shut off outside sharing, release the contract and policies, and vote on whether to keep the program only after residents can see the records.
These are the officials who decide whether Liberty keeps funding the cameras. Contact information is published by the township. We don't list anyone's position until they've stated it on the record.
Liberty Township Trustee (President)
Official public contact information published by Liberty Township.
Liberty Township Trustee (Vice President)
Official public contact information published by Liberty Township.
Liberty Township Trustee
Official public contact information published by Liberty Township.
Add your name and help make this a public decision instead of a quiet renewal.