Tulsa police are working to ease concerns surrounding the department's use of Flock license plate reader cameras as questions over public safety and privacy continue to fuel debate."Everybody wants to feel safe in their homes, b ut everybody also wants to feel that their privacy also protected," Tulsa Police Chief Jonathan Brooks said.Brooks, Tulsa's new police chief, said building a stronger relationship with the entire community was one of his priorities when he took over the department.On October 19, Tulsa Police hosted a transparency session aimed at giving the public an opportunity to hear directly from the department about how and why it uses license plate reader cameras."We received a lot of questions about how the Tulsa Police Department uses this technology," Brooks said. "We had a panel of our departmental experts answer those questions."Nearly 80 questions submitted by community members were answered by a panel of officers.2 News Oklahoma spoke with multiple people who attended the meeting, but none wanted to be interviewed on camera. Attendees said they appreciated Tulsa police making an effort to be transparent about the technology.One woman said she did not have a problem with the cameras themselves, but had concerns about Flock, the company behind them.According to Tulsa Police, the city has 106 Flock license plate reader cameras. The department says the cameras are strictly used to read license plates and do not have facial recognition.Brooks said educating the public about how the technology is used could help address some of the concerns."Some of it is making sure that everybody understands that we're also protecting constitutional rights and privacy, as well as trying to keep our community safe, so there's a balance between those two," Brooks said.The discussion came the same day Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado spoke about his agency's use of license plate readers.Regalado said the technology helped authorities discover 91 pounds of methamphetamine, but said much of the discussion he saw on social media instead centered on questions about the cameras."I don't have an issue with people questioning the legality or the courts questioning the legality," Regalado said. "That's what they're there for, to ensure that we aren't violating people's constitutional rights. However, again, as I stated, I am outraged over the lack of outrage of methamphetamine coming in by people on social media."Regalado characterized the criticism as coming from a vocal minority."What's been lost in this narrative is the overwhelming majority of citizens want this," Regalado said.Tulsa police plan to hold at least four more community conversations this year. Brooks said the next session is scheduled for the October 26 at the Tulsa Tech Memorial campus. ...read more read less