Two and a half years ago, the Board made a decision to purchase LPR cameras from the Flock Safety Company to assist area officers. The cameras allow officers access to Flock’s massive network. The cameras are installed at entrances and exits of all subdivisions within the District – Parkway Oaks, Falcon Rock, Falcon Point Estates, and Wyndhaven Lakes.
We contracted with Flock after consulting with the Fort Bend County Constable, our Partners in District Security. The Constables could not have spoken more highly of the system’s efficacy in the assistance the cameras provide in solving various types of crimes. Most of our neighboring MUDs or HOAs have installed Flock cameras as well. The City of Katy has a huge Flock system.
The cameras are License Plates Readers (LPR). They have the capability to not only capture a license plate, but also other identifying features on a vehicle such as: make, model, color, and even bumper stickers. The cameras take pictures of the rear of the vehicle. People are not targeted in any way to be photographed. Also, these cameras are not used to issue speeding citations.
Flock is electronically tied to numerous Federal, State, and Local crime and missing persons databases. How it works: if a car enters one of our subdivisions, and a report has been generated (stolen vehicle, burglary, child abduction, home invasion, etc.) anywhere in the country, our Flock cameras send an alert to the Fort Bend County Constable within 30 seconds. If there is a warrant out for the car’s owner, the FBCC is notified. Exact times of entrance and exit are recorded and can assist in narrowing the data down to a specific time frame.
It is important to note, the only users allowed to access ANY of the data collected are law enforcement and Flock.
Needless to say, the cameras also act as a crime deterrent. FBCC reports that the District has seen about a 45 % drop in reported criminal activity since the cameras were installed.