The cameras have helped law enforcement locate vehicles and suspects, but a Volusia County defense attorney says they can also send investigations in the wrong direction.
Several Florida law enforcement agencies are taking down Flock cameras after the state moved to restrict their use on Florida roads.
The cameras have helped investigators solve crimes, but Volusia County defense attorney Patrick McGeehan said they also can lead police to focus on the wrong person.
“Lindsay Isaacs was identified by a Flock camera,” McGeehan said. “The technology did its job in that particular case, but she just happened to be the person not responsible.”
McGeehan represents Isaacs, who was wrongfully arrested in April and accused of causing a fatal crash that killed three people in DeBary last year.
Investigators were looking for a black Dodge Durango. McGeehan said Flock cameras quickly pointed them toward Isaacs.
“They went immediately to Flock, found a black Dodge Durango, and focused solely on that to the exclusion of everything else,” McGeehan said.
McGeehan said he was able to show Isaacs could not have been at the crash scene. Troopers eventually identified Alisa Montalvo as the driver. She was also driving a black Dodge Durango.
Investigators used Flock cameras to track the vehicle before it was damaged, while it was damaged and after it was repaired, McGeehan said.
“They’re no longer going to be able to do that,” he said. “They’re going to have to go out and do investigative work on the street.”
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood has said the cameras helped catch child predators, murderers, burglars and, most recently, a carjacking suspect.
McGeehan said taking down the cameras does not automatically mean cases involving Flock evidence will fall apart. Prosecutors still can use other evidence, including video, witness statements, fingerprints or DNA.
But he said Isaacs’ case demonstrates the risk of relying too heavily on the technology.
“At least for the foreseeable future, you will not see a case like that,” McGeehan said.