Records: LPD commander lied to WKYT; FLOCK license plate cameras have not been audited

UPDATE: Over 24 hours after this story premiered, WKYT has still not corrected their false story. SHOCKER! But rumor has it they’re facing some heat from corporate and one could be coming soon.

Records: LPD commander lied to WKYT; FLOCK license plate cameras have not been audited

Uh. Oh. A recent WKYT piece of copaganda on Lexington’s new license plate readers needs a little correction! WKYT published the false report on September 6.

Within the report, Souto published a paraphrasing from Lexington police Commander Matthew Greathouse:

When the program was first announced, there were concerns about privacy and targeting information. Greathouse said they’ve conducted audits and have found no inaccuracies.

Flock cameras appear to be paying off, according to Lexington police

Pamela J. Wade, LPD’s tough-as-nails records custodian, was not afraid to stand up for the truth, however. When The Lexington Times requested a copy of the audit, Wade followed the law and replied that:

Regarding the portion of your request for “copies of any audits done on the flock cameras”: The
“FLOCK program” was not fully implemented until the middle of July, 2022. Therefore, official
audits have yet to be performed on the FLOCK cameras
. An official audit, however, is anticipated to
cover the 3rd quarter of 2022.

Pamela J. Wade, Open Records Custodian

Our Take

Obviously, this is not the first time LPD has been caught telling a bold faced lie to the public, and it certainly won’t be the last. We have a few recommendations for all involved parties:

  • Commander Greathouse should be placed on 3 months of unpaid administrative leave. While what he did is worse than the stoner cop who just received a similar penalty, LPD is currently understaffed, so, given the circumstance, that is a good starting point.
  • WKYT should immediately issue a retraction and correct their story.
    • In the future we recommend they verify all statements made by LPD employees to the media. Lexington cops have a long and storied history of lying to the public, so having a robust media watchdog is important. WKYT does not appear to be sufficiently filling that role currently. (It seems unlikely WKYT will take any action given their history of regurgitating the police narrative across the board.)
    • We are also recommending that Souto attend an 8-hour Saturday morning fact-checking training.
  • Mayor Linda Gorton should launch a full forensic audit of the Lexington Police Department to get to the root causes of all the lies. (The family member of a gun violence victim recently accused the Chief of Police of lying about ignoring her phone calls at a press conference, “that’s not true,” he replied–his phone records will be a good indicator of who is telling the truth.)
  • As a show of good faith, Wade should release the locations of all Lexington FLOCK camera so the public can conduct their own audits.
No photo description available.
Pamela “Not Afraid” Wade appears to have been honest and to have followed the law.

Read more: [CONTAINS MISINFORMATION] Flock cameras appear to be paying off, according to Lexington police

Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton cringey press conference
It was Chief Weathers’ word against the word of a family member of a gun violence victim at a recent press conference. Who do you believe?