Most of Covington's license plate reader cameras have been damaged over the past two months, some more than once, as online campaigns encouraging people to targ
Most of Covington's license plate reader cameras have been damaged over the past two months, some more than once, as online campaigns encouraging people to target the devices continue to spread, according to police.
Officers have made arrests in at least one case and are investigating several others, but they're still waiting on final estimates for the total cost of repairs.
"We've also had people attach fireworks to them and blow them up. We have people cut the poles down," said Covington Police Chief Adam Easterbrook.
The damage is racking up thousands of dollars in estimated repair costs. Easterbrook said repairs typically can run about $2,000 per camera, while the cameras themselves cost around $1,000 each.
Last month, Covington police arrested a group of teens, ages 14 to 17, accused of shooting fireworks and a pellet gun at one of the cameras. Investigators are still working on other incidents.
Other cities have been dealing with similar issues. In Bellevue, four newly installed speed cameras were damaged as the city began rolling out its automated speed enforcement program in areas with a history of serious and fatal crashes.
City spokesperson Jennifer Cook said the cameras aren't designed to identify who's behind the wheel.
"We're not capturing who's in the vehicle, really it's to document the date, the time, and location of the infraction," Cook said.
Despite the backlash, Covington police credit the camera system with helping drive down auto theft and solve violent crimes.
"We've had robbery solved with it. We've had we've made arrests because it alerted us to a stolen car," Easterbrook said. "In 2023 we had over 100 auto thefts in the city of Covington. So far through the end of July, we've only had 19."
Police also shared that there are built-in tools that automatically flag potential misuse, and state law bars them from sharing the data from the cameras with federal agencies.
"State law prohibits us from doing that," Easterbrook said. "So we do not have the nationwide search function on, and we have limited it only to local law enforcement, so no other entity outside of law enforcement has access to our systems."
Police also cited Washington's Driver Privacy Act, signed into law earlier this year, which bars agencies from using camera data in immigration investigations or to track people seeking protected health care services.
