FORT WORTH, Texas – Fort Worth police are crediting a new camera system with helping them alert them to potential criminals.
The Flock camera system started out as a company providing private video security in neighborhoods, but police across the country now use the cameras for one specific purpose: scanning license plates.
The security system captures images of vehicles and connects them to a license plate reader.
“We now work with more than 2,500 cities across the country. Most of them are law enforcement agencies, and they report to us that they are solving 700 to 900 crimes every day using this technology,” Flock said. Josh Thomas of security.
Only Fort Worth has used the information from the cameras to track potential criminals.
On Saturday, Fort Worth police received an alert from Flock Security System that plates stolen from a car were linked to an aggravated assault.
Police arrested the driver after a pursuit from east Fort Worth to Oak Cliff.
On August 30, Fort Worth police received an alert from their Flock cameras about a stolen car.
When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, it fled.
During the pursuit, a passenger in the car sat outside the window firing a shotgun at officers. Ultimately, the car crashed at an intersection in Haltom City. The passenger was wanted on three previous charges.
Suspect shoots Fort Worth police officers during pursuit
Police said they received an alert from their Flock license plate cameras that they spotted the stolen car. Officers found the car and tried to stop it, but it kept going.
“Flock cameras are cameras that we’ve been able to place in certain high-traffic areas throughout the city that will notify officers if they detect a license plate involving a wanted criminal, on that vehicle in any way. If the vehicle was stolen Not for misdemeanors, but for felonies like this,” Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said after the Aug. 30 manhunt. “Technology has changed the game. This is a perfect example of that.”
The technology was also used in the arrest of a man who allegedly used a drone to try to drop drugs, cell phones and MP3 players at the federal medical prison in Fort Worth.
Police found surveillance video showing the suspect with the drone and his red truck, but could not see the license plate.
(US Department of Justice)
“Once they used our devices to identify that key piece of information that really unlocked the case so they could go find the suspect vehicle, find additional evidence and ultimately make an arrest,” Thomas said.
The people behind the technology say there are limits to what the cameras can do.
“It’s very important to understand that these cameras get vehicle descriptions and license plates, but they don’t identify people. There is no facial recognition. In fact, there is no personally identifiable information inside Flock,” Thomas said.