Tim Tepe, the father of Spencer Tepe, supports Columbus police's continued use of a controversial surveillance technology that he believes helped lead officers to the suspect who shot Spencer and Monique Tepe last year.
As anti-surveillance protesters call for Columbus City Council to get rid of its Flock Safety license plate reading cameras, Columbus police are holding up the Tepe case and multiple others where Flock license plate cameras helped solve violent crimes or locate missing people, including senior residents and children.
Spencer Tepe, a dentist, and his wife Monique were fatally shot in their Weinland Park home in late December in a case that captured national attention. Columbus police used information from Flock Safety's network of automated license plate reading cameras to locate a suspect: Monique Tepe's ex-husband, Michael McKee. McKee, of Illinois, has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder charges in their deaths and is awaiting trial.
Columbus police Deputy Chief Justin Coleman read several victim impact statements to council members during an Aug. 10 public hearing, including an emailed statement from Tim Tepe.
"I understand that there are privacy concerns about the use of Flock cameras. The question for me is whether a perceived invasion of privacy outweighs home invasions and murders going unsolved," Coleman read from Tepe's statement. "Without Flock cameras, Mckee would still be roaming about in society ready to murder the next person he perceives to have crossed him in some way. Spencer and Monique are just two examples where Flock cameras served their best purpose: capturing a murderer."
Tim Tepe, an attorney partner at Dinsmore law firm in Cincinnati, went on to say he's sure there are other examples where Flock cameras have been used well.
"When I weigh capturing dangerous criminals against privacy concerns, which amount to recording a very public activity of driving through the city of Columbus, I come down strongly in favor of maintaining the Flock camera system," Tim Tepe said, adding that his wife supports his position.
Coleman read Tepe's statement last after reading several victim impact statements, including statements by a woman whose elderly husband with dementia was located and the sister, Demonty Carter, who was fatally shot.
Opponents of the AI-powered network of Flock cameras object to their constant surveillance and argued that the tool could be misused, including for immigration enforcement. Last month, Columbus police released an audit that found more than 15,000 possibly immigration enforcement-related searches of city data.
During the hearing, Councilmember Lourdes Barroso de Padilla asked Columbus police leadership pointed questions about whether Flock cameras are a tool worth using given the trade-offs.
Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Tepe father says privacy concerns around Flock cameras don't outweigh safety