Lafayette Police Department is just one of many agencies across Colorado utilizing Flock Safety's camera system, which according to Lafayette police Chief Rick Bashor, started toward the end of last year in response to a spike in criminal activity.
"We had a pretty significant increase of auto thefts and catalytic converter thefts; a lot of people coming from out of town to commit crimes," Bashor said. "In total, once all of the installations are completed, we'll have 30 cameras throughout town."
Flock Safety technology was specifically credited by Bashor as being instrumental in the indictment of eight suspects linked to a series of auto thefts, trespasses and burglaries.
The group is reportedly responsible for more than 45 vehicle thefts valued at $1 million, chop shop activity and stealing more than $96,000 worth of property.
Holly Beilin, head of communications for Flock Safety, said the company was founded in 2017 but didn't start selling cameras specifically to law enforcement until 2019.
"Flock was founded with the idea that this tech would be to help homeowners associations, but what we started realizing very quickly is that law enforcement wanted the tech themselves," Beilin said.
One of the company's first customers in Colorado was the Castle Rock Police Department, and Beilin said at the time it the only region in the state to not experience an uptick in auto thefts. Flock now has a presence with roughly 45 law enforcement agencies throughout Colorado, she said.
How the tech works, Beilin said, is that the software on the cameras connects with different law enforcement agencies all over the country, such as the FBI National Crime Information Center or the Amber Alert database.
Those stationary cameras, which are on poles and are solar-powered, scan license plates as well as capture a vehicle's description. Cars that drive by are then cross-checked through databases used for criminal activity,
When the camera detects a license plate on one of those lists, it automatically alerts law enforcement on their phones, patrol cars and via email, as well.
Images of vehicles are uploaded to the company's cloud server and become part of a searchable database, but images are then deleted within 30 days.
Despite the ability to capture vehicle models and plate numbers, the one ability the cameras don't have, Beilin said, is to see inside cars or identify faces. While some reports have indicated the motion-activated cameras are recording 24/7 and capture pictures of pedestrians and cyclists, Beilin said that's not entirely accurate.
"The phrasing 'record' is a little off; they take still images, so there is no recording," Beilin said. "They can be motion-activated and take still images any time of day or night, but they're not recording. Another thing no longer accurate: The cameras used to take images of cyclists, but you can no longer search images other than vehicles."
'EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL'
In November, the cameras were used in Lafayette for a case involving a stolen vehicle in the area of South Boulder Road and Dixon Avenue, which resulted in a suspect taking his own life and an officer being wounded in the leg. The Boulder County District Attorney's office later cleared Officer Jared Fender of any wrongdoing.
Lafayette is far from alone. Scott Moore, crime prevention specialist for Louisville, said the department started using Flock Safety in May 2022 as a means of deterring property crime in areas affected by the Marshall Fire and since then has been "extremely successful" with using it to apprehend suspects.
"We have 20 cameras, and they are still being used," Moore said. "Areas around Marshall Fire have been the focus, and we do anticipate construction going on for another year at least. We'll determine at that time if we plan to keep them beyond that, but so far we've been very pleased with the results."
Erie police spokesperson Amber Luttrell said that department has also been pleased with results seen since October. Luttrell said the department has a dozen operational cameras, and they share access with Lafayette.
Longmont is in a trial phase with only five cameras, but Sgt. Colin Jessen said since the cameras were installed in May the department has already seen an increase in arrests, clearing outstanding warrants and recovering vehicles.
"We're considering adding more, given the success that we're having, but it's not a cheap system, so it's a cost-benefit analysis," Jessen said. "I can see us trying to build the system out to more than 15 cameras if results remain."
According to the Flock Safety website, costs run around $2,500 per camera per year in addition to the one-time installation fee and sales tax, and often two years of payment is required upfront.
Boulder has been using several of the company's cameras since the first quarter of 2022. Boulder police spokesperson Dionne Waugh said since the cameras' implementation, the department has seen a marked decrease in vehicle thefts, as well as numerous arrests for varied crimes and even homicides.
"The department experienced a 9.4% decrease in motor vehicle theft from 2021 to 2022, and an average monthly decrease of 19.6% from January through May 2022 to January through May 2023, which equates to having 41 fewer motor vehicle thefts in 2022 compared to 2021, and an average of three fewer motor vehicle thefts per month during the beginning five months of 2023 compared to January- May 2022," Waugh said.
Cmdr. Jason Oehlkers, with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, reported similar results. Oehlkers said his office started using Flock cameras in 2022 and they have found the cameras to be an "investigative tool" to assist in recovering stolen vehicles, but also as a way to locate suicidal and missing persons.
'WE DON'T WANT TO OVERSTEP'
Oehlkers added, however, the department is well aware of the potential for public concern about privacy issues.
"We want to provide the best possible safety that we can, but at the same time we don't want to overstep boundaries, which is why we have policies and standards and training in place to safeguard rights of the public along with checks and balances," Oehlkers said. "It truly has been a benefit, and we, the sheriff's office, recognize the potential for abuse, and we do everything we can to ensure that doesn't happen."
With regards to misuse, Beilin said in the five years the company has been serving law enforcement, she's aware of only one instance of any wrongdoing by an agency affiliated with Flock. According to Beilin, an officer from a client department was experiencing a family issue, which rose to the level of stalking an individual.
But Beilin said that due to Flock's auditing system, the agency became aware of the situation within a week, and the officer was quickly reprimanded by his department.
As Beilin explained, when law enforcement agencies are searching for footage or other evidence within the Flock Safety platform, officers must enter what are referred to as reason codes to verify the legitimacy of the search and create an audit. All of the information is then saved along with the parameters of the search entered, making it easy for any commanding officer to find within the audit that can be performed at any point.
"Flock was founded on the belief that we can balance both public safety and the critical need to protect personal privacy, which is a bedrock principle this country was founded on," Beilin said. "We believe that by focusing on objective evidence, having responsible data security and retention policies, and enabling accountability and oversight, we can achieve this goal."
In an article published by the American Civil Liberties Union in February, the organization urged the public to oppose police or government leaders pushing for Flock or other centralized mass-surveillance automatic license plate recognition systems from being used within communities.
The article stated, "There's no reason the technology should be used to create comprehensive records of everybody's comings and goings," which the ACLU claims is what automated license reader databases like Flock's are doing by creating a "nationwide mass-surveillance system."
"In our country, the government should not be tracking us unless it has individualized suspicion that we're engaged in wrongdoing," the ACLU stated.
The ACLU Colorado Chapter was reached out to but did not comment.
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