What are Flock cameras?

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - You've likely seen them in Western New York: Flock cameras. But what are they, and what is their purpose?

Retired Buffalo Police Cpt. Jeff Rinaldo says it's a camera system that records vehicles and their plates' identification tags in various locations within the public view. He says it's similar to what law enforcement cameras do.

Rinaldo says the main purpose is to determine where a vehicle with a particular license plate tag or a vehicle matching a particular description was in a particular place and time.

"If you're looking for a particular vehicle and you know the license plate number, utilizing obviously a network of those cameras, it allows law enforcement to determine direction of travel, to determine whether or not a particular vehicle was in a certain area, as well as on the artificial intelligence side, if you knew that vehicle description, red SUV, some of those different systems have the ability to pull just red SUVs that hit those particular cameras in a particular date and time range as well," says Rinaldo.

Rinaldo says he understands privacy concerns.

"However, the cameras are mounted generally in public areas where anyone has the right to videotape the comings and goings of vehicles in public spaces. I do think that it would benefit Flock to really do more messaging to the public about who has access to the data and how they protect it, and how it's utilized. And same thing, every law enforcement agency is very transparent in terms of their policies and procedures. All that information can be FOIL'd, and you know, if people have concerns, they should talk to their local law enforcement agencies about what are they doing with the data, how's it stored, and how is it protected," says Rinaldo.

Amherst Police say they recently concluded a contract with Flock.