Georgia-based Flock Safety specializes in solar-powered, motion-activated cameras that take snapshots of license plates. The stationary cameras, called the Flock Safety Falcon, allow neighborhood HOAs and police officers to identify and find cars associated with criminal activity, according to a Flock Safety representative.
The Fort Worth Police Department installed its first Flock Safety camera in September 2020. It helped officers catch a carjacking suspect in the first week, Sgt. Dalton Webb said in an email. More cameras were installed in December 2020.
The bulk of the cameras in use today have been around since Jan. 1, Webb said. The department plans to expand the program this fall.
As of March, 63 cameras have been installed. The department's contract with Flock Safety is $2,000 per camera.
The cameras are used in investigation of crimes involving a vehicle with the exception of Class C offenses such as traffic-related crimes, Webb said. The department has had the greatest success with 299 stolen car recoveries, and the cameras have helped develop leads for suspects in drive-by shootings and homicides.
Using the license plate-reading technology, police were able to arrest a serial bank robbing suspect a few days after he robbed banks in Carrollton and Euless in July, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern Texas. In the Carrollton robbery on July 22, the suspect had been seen getting into a Jeep Cherokee Latitude which was caught on Flock Safety cameras, according to a criminal complaint given by Fort Worth police officer Weldon Thompson.
On July 29, the day of the Euless robbery, the vehicle was picked up on a camera located on Lancaster Avenue around the same time frame as the crime. Using the cameras to run the license plate number, police were able to find who the vehicle was registered under and compare the vehicle's owner to the suspect.
Protocols are in place to run searches using the cameras. Webb said every officer has to have a documented reason to search the database and it has to be for a criminal investigation.
Webb said the cameras are always changing location in relation to crime trends. They are currently used in high-crime areas as part of the #FortWorthSafe initiative developed by Chief Neil Noakes, which began in May.
"They are used for both proactive enforcement in addition to reactive investigations," Webb said.
The department has compiled maps of high-crime areas which can be viewed on its website.
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