Flock Cameras Going Away In Joliet Township: Highway Commissioner Alessio Explains His Decision

(The following edited press release arrived on Tuesday night from the Joliet Township Government officials.)

JOLIET, IL — Joliet Township Highway Commissioner Vincent Alessio has chosen to revoke the permits of Flock Automatic License Plate Recognition cameras on Joliet Township Road District property.

As an elected official, Commissioner Alessio said he swore an oath to protect the constitution of the United States, which includes the right to privacy or unreasonable search by the government.

After careful vetting of ALPR cameras, including a tutorial by Flock, the Road District permitted the cameras, the township said in a news release. This was done in conversation with the Will County Sheriff’s Office.

Although initially having privacy and constitutional concerns, Commissioner Alessio said he was reassured that the Road District would always have the ability to revoke permits if the concerns were realized.

After a year and a half of use, resident feedback, local abuses, and national news, the concerns initially made are validated, Alessio said.

These cameras are a powerful tool that do not have enough oversight on their use, and allow the government to use them in ways that further implicate citizens’ freedom of movement, expression, and privacy, Alessio added.

He stressed that Flock is a private company with contracts with federal agencies as well as local governments; the use of these cameras is broad and shadowy. After the hack of many federal agencies recently, the possibility exists that citizens’ personal whereabouts are available to any party interested, he said.

With recent news coverage, the Road District wanted the public to have clear reasoning on why the decision was made.

Joliet Patch has produced numerous news stories about the ongoing efforts by Joliet City Hall to terminate Joliet Police Lt. Jeremy Harrison and then came last week's announcement from Channahon police indicating that an undisclosed Channahon police officer also faces allegations of misusing the village's FLOCK camera license plate reader system.

This week, Joliet Patch confirmed that another personnel issue with FLOCK cameras had arisen at the Will County Sheriff's Office and that a deputy has been placed on administrative leave.

Who Is Vincent Alessio?

According to the Joliet Township Government website on its elected officials, "Vincent Alessio was born and raised in Joliet area. Vincent has experience working in construction for IBEW Local 9 working on ComEd’s power grid. Since, he has managed and operated Industrial Steam Cleaning and FilterShine located in Rockdale. These businesses both operate as family businesses and Vincent has been instrumental in building the businesses from the beginning ... Commissioner Alessio is intent on investing in Joliet Township Road District’s infrastructure and serving residents first. He believes in optimizing the resources of the taxpayer and providing the best service possible."