Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department opens portal on Flock camera data

The Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department (MCSD) held a press briefing to introduce a new online transparency portal at monongaliasheriff.gov. The site provides real‑time data on the department’s Flock Safety automated license‑plate reader (ALPR) system, including the number of unique vehicles detected, hits, searches conducted and downloadable audit logs.

Sheriff Todd Forbes emphasized that the department has “nothing to hide,” noting that the portal eliminates the need for Freedom of Information Act requests. Law Enforcement Administrator Mark Ralston explained that the cameras record only license‑plate text, vehicle make and model, date, time and location, and cannot identify drivers or collect personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers or race. Image storage was reduced from 30 days to 21 days following a pending Virginia court ruling. The system complies with federal Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) standards, requires a documented law‑enforcement case number for each search, and logs all database interactions with an immutable audit trail.