‘Flock’ license plate reading cameras have led to more than 30 arrests, says Palm Springs Police Department

Newly installed technology is helping local police departments track down criminals. The 'Flock Safety's Automated License Plate Readers', or ALPR's, were adopted by the Palm Springs Police Department, as well as several others around the Coachella Valley, in October.

The cameras don't monitor every day drivers, but instead, they seek out license plates for cars wanted in connection to crimes, such as a stolen vehicle or a car involved in a hit-and-run.

Lieutenant William Hutchinson with the Palm Springs explained that transparency is key with a program like 'Flock'.

"We're not interested in the comings and goings of the everyday person," says Hutchinson. "We're only concerned about the vehicles that are wanted or have committed a crime. Transparency is key, you have to keep the public trust. And we have to hear the good in the bad. And if it's not going to work for this community, it's not going to work for this community, we'll find another method. But this seems to be something our community wants, and we're going to keep pushing forward with it."

Hutchinson says the department took many steps to make sure this technology wasn't only something the community wanted, but something the community supported.

"We collaborated with city council members who had concerns," said the Lieutenant. "We had members of the ACLU sit on a zoom call with us, and we held several city council meetings where we talked about these plate readers, and then we even gave people the opportunity to provide some feedback in a public forum. People really supported this idea."

Over the past few months, 16 cameras have bee strategically installed along main roads and high-traffic intersections. The system uses real-time live cameras around the city, state, and the country to notify officers about a wanted or suspicious vehicle.

"We have these cameras currently strategically placed the entrances and exits of the city," said Hutchinson. "So when a vehicle that's wanted, for like a kidnapping, a violent crime, a stolen vehicle, or a missing child, may enter or leave our city, we will immediately get notified of that and have a direction of travel. That way we can even start dispatching officers to look for that vehicle immediately.”

The PSPD says the cameras have proven instrumental in solving dozens of crimes.

"We already have 30, 40, 50, different leads because of these cameras," said Hutchinson. "We've had many arrests, many guns have been recovered, several arrests made, stolen vehicles recovered. We even had a human trafficking suspect taken into custody, several leads in burglary investigations, several burglary suspects arrested. So this has really been an invaluable tool and a critical asset for our police department.”

The 'Flock' cameras cost about $3,000 per camera, and are funded by using part of a $4.5 million grant awarded to the department over three years.

Because the program has proven to be so successful, the department hopes to continue expanding the technology and installing additional cameras in the future.

"We want the criminals know this technology's here, or people that are committing crimes, right? We want them to be aware that we have the technology and we're gonna use it," said Hutchinson. "And if you come in our city, we're going to identify you, we're going to find you, and we're going to arrest you.”