Milton signs police access agreements with Ring, Flock

Milton police will have access to Flock license plate recognition camera data under an agreement with Flock Group Inc. approved by the City Council. (AJC FILE/Casey Sykes)

Milton police will have access to Flock license plate recognition camera data under an agreement with Flock Group Inc. approved by the City Council. (AJC FILE/Casey Sykes)

The Milton City Council has approved agreements with their respective companies that will give the police department access to data collected by Ring LLC home security systems and Flock Group Inc. license plate readers.

Ring is an Amazon company whose products include the popular Ring video doorbell. Flock installs and operates vehicle license plate recognition cameras, typically for homeowners associations.

With Ring, Milton police will be able to view only publicly available content through the Neighbors App, “unless a user explicitly and voluntarily chooses to share their own recordings with law enforcement,” staff said in a report to the council. Police can request information of a user, and Ring will forward the request.

“Exact locations of devices and user information are never provided to law enforcement without a user’s express permission or a valid and binding legal demand,” properly served, staff said.

With Flock, Milton police will have access to data collected by the company’s license plate cameras in the city, staff said.