Williamsburg Parish
Resident Survey Regarding Entrance Surveillance Cameras
Your Board of Directors have been researching new technology available that can help assist in ongoing efforts to deter crime in the community as much as possible. Flock Safety license plate reading cameras have become the main focus for consideration due to their system abilities, cost and positive references received from other communities and townships in the surrounding area that are already utilizing their services. But your Board wants to first share additional information about Flock Safety and poll all of you for your opinions on the matter before making their final decision on whether or not to proceed. Please review the following information and let us know what you think!
Flock Safety has built the first public safety operating system that helps neighborhoods, businesses, and law enforcement in 1500+ cities work together to eliminate crime, protect privacy, and mitigate bias.
Pair devices that capture objective evidence and machine learning to create and deliver unbiased investigative leads to law enforcement. Flock Safety helps HOAs, Neighborhood Associations, and law enforcement
work together to capture the objective evidence needed to reduce crime rates, improve neighborhood security, and protect home values.
Technology has greatly improved over the last decade and a majority of households have some type of surveillance system in place. But not all camera footage provides a lead for an investigation of a criminal act. In fact, many devices miss the most critical information that law enforcement needs to solve crime - a license plate. License plate reading cameras work because roughly 70% of all crime is committed with a vehicle. So, whether it’s vandalism, theft, or other suspicious activity, Flock Safety’s technology quickly and objectively identifies a suspect’s vehicle.
Flock Safety’s patented Vehicle Fingerprint™ technology lets the user search by vehicle make, color, type, license plate, state of the license plate, missing plate, covered plate, paper plate, and unique vehicle details like roof racks, bumper stickers, and more. The cameras are motion activated and take a picture of the front or back of a vehicle as it drives by, day and night. Flock Safety cameras can also be installed anywhere because they are completely solar powered.
One of the two main question asked when these types of cameras are installed always comes back to personal privacy. Flock Safety places ethics and privacy at the heart of every policy and device they create. Community residents should never have to compromise their privacy to stay safe. That is why the cameras only capture portions of a vehicle. They do not show the persons driving or riding in the vehicle, unless it is a convertible with the top down or a motorcycle. However, Flock Safety has strict measures in place to protect resident privacy.
Flock Safety believes that they can successfully reduce crime while protecting and preserving privacy. Here are a few of the ways they have ethically-engineered their products to ensure privacy protection:
· All data store all data for only 30 days (or in adherence with local laws). Customers own all of their data. Flock will never share or sell data with third parties. The customer is the only one to determine who has access to the footage.
· Flock Safety provides what is called The Safe List feature that allows neighborhood residents to register their license plate number and opt to be eliminated from captured footage. This way, police can easily separate residents from non-residents and allow residents with privacy concerns to opt out of the system altogether.
· All data is stored in the cloud through a standard encryption system used by both the Federal Government and the National Security Agency.
· Nobody from Flock Safety is accessing or monitoring a customer’s footage. The customer decides who can access the system and footage. Most HOA’s have either a security liaison, Board member or property manager perform camera footage review.
· In the event of a crime, customers can choose to provide access to local police to help gather the evidence needed. Customers can also choose to engage in an ongoing relationship with their local law enforcement to grant them access to Flock Safety footage automatically. If a known stolen vehicle or wanted person enters the community, local police will instantly get an alert on their cell phone or laptop. Up to 60% of stolen vehicles are associated with additional crime. This helps police get real-time alerts should a suspect pass through your neighborhood, increasing their capability to solve crimes like AMBER Alerts, State and federal wanted lists, etc.
Bottom line is if you have not committed a crime, you have nothing to worry about. The system footage is not accessed unless a crime has been reported. No one is tracking any individuals’ personal comings and goings.
The second question most asked relates to communities that already have law enforcement patrol and why should there be additional expense for something like these types of surveillance cameras and how much more will it cost members? The answer is simple…the police cannot be everywhere all the time and can’t solve crime without valuable information and evidence. When asked, most existing customers say that just having the cameras visible at a community entrance has been an immediate deterrent of crime. The Board is NOT considering these cameras to be a replacement for Sheriff patrol, they would be in addition to the patrol. The Association pays $78,000.00 annually for Sheriff patrol and the proposed camera service would be an approximate $15,000.00 additional annually.
If you would like to research more information about Flock Safety systems, please visit their website at:
Here is the part where you tell us what you think!