ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY, Va. — News 3 is going in-depth on a technology known as Flock Safety Cameras.
It’s a tool that’s continuing to make its mark across Hampton Roads, and law enforcement is calling it a “game changer.”
Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot announced this week that the city has installed 172 cameras that are up and running as part of the new Real Time Crime Center set to be complete in the fall.
According to Talbot, seven Hampton Roads communities have Flock up and running—Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Isle of Wight County, Newport News, Norfolk, and Suffolk.
Lisa Meyers is a pastor at the Providence Methodist Church at the Suffolk-Isle of Wight County line. For her, safety is top of mind.
“I want to see [the community] safe,” Meyers told News 3. “I’m always concerned on a Sunday morning. We could be very vulnerable.”
Lately, she's noticed Flock cameras that are aimed at helping tackle crime to get answers for police quickly.
“It’s just a motion-activated camera,” Capt. Tommy Potter at the Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office said. “It’s just taking pictures of cars as the cars pass by this location.”
Capt. Potter said six Flock cameras are placed throughout the county. He said Isle of Wight County has had Flock up and running for the past six months.
“That camera is another tool in my tool belt,” Potter said.
Flock spokeswoman Holly Beilin said their cameras take still photos and use software to identify license plate numbers and letters and find other features of a car, like its color, make, and aftermarket parts.
Beilin added the cameras can also compare a license plate to different state and national crime databases.
“It’s gaining a fuller picture of the crime,” she told News 3. “It’s able to determine whether that vehicle is known to be a stolen vehicle, associated with a wanted offender, or associated with a missing person, and then flag that vehicle in an alert for local law enforcement.”
This all, according to Beilin, is within a few seconds of a car passing by.
Beilin also said their cameras can also pair with Flock Safety's Raven gunshot audio detection system.
“Suspects are not staying in one area. Someone who has abducted a child, or stolen a vehicle, they’re not staying in the same city,” Beilin said. “When folks cross over into different jurisdictions, this actually allows law enforcement to coordinate their efforts and talk to each other and help solve more crime.”
According to Beilin, in Virginia, about 50 law enforcement agencies use Flock. In North Carolina, about 90 law enforcement agencies use Flock.
For Potter, they've seen results from this tool finding stolen vehicles and answers to homicide cases.
One recent example being Aonesty Selby, 18, of Williamsburg whose body was found in Isle of Wight County back in January.
Potter told News 3 Flock camera data helped lead to charges in the case against Andarius McClelland.
“We knew the make and model of the vehicle that he operated and we had a license plate number, and we were able to take that license plate number, and put in the Flock system,” Potter said. “We had information that Aonesty was at a residence in Newport News at a certain time. Then, we were able to put that vehicle into the Flock system. We were able to follow that vehicle at different places throughout Hampton, in Newport News, and then eventually crossing over the James River bridge, coming into Isle of Wight County at a certain time. All of that information was used in the investigative process.”
Meanwhile, the ACLU is raising concerns about Flock cameras, recently writing, "The police do not need records of every person’s coming and goings, including trips to doctor’s offices, religious institutions, and political gatherings."
News 3 asked Beilin about privacy concerns surrounding Flock.
“We don’t have speed recognition on these cameras. They’re not red-light cameras. They don’t have facial recognition, and they’re not video cameras that are tracking people. It is solely to pull a license plate and vehicle details,” Beilin said. “All of the data that we collect, again just those vehicle details and license plates, is fully encrypted, sent to the cloud on a fully secured basis, and then deleted automatically every 30 days on a rolling basis. If that image of a particular license plate is never used in the investigation of a crime, it’s completely gone after 30 days automatically.”
As for Meyers, more cameras mean more peace of mind.
“If it helps to find out when somebody’s doing something wrong, those of us who are doing things right don’t need to be worried,” Meyers said.
Flock officials also told News 3 they have safeguards that allow for transparency and accountability.
These include easy to pull auditing reports and required search justifications every time law enforcement performs a search with cameras.
