Cheektowaga, N.Y. (WBEN) - During a Thursday press conference, Cheektowaga Police hailed their partnership with Flock Safety , an automated license plate recognition system company that aided in the arrest of a 30-year-old Cheektowaga man who attempted armed robbery on a local pawn shop on Walden Avenue last year.
"The Flock camera system we had was an integral part of this investigation," said Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Coons.
"We were able to identify some witnesses that saw the suspect, limping down Haller Avenue, we also managed to get a [vague] description of the vehicle. Using that description, with the help with the Flock system and the New York State Police, we were able to get a better description of the vehicle and also a license plate."
Flock Safety cameras are currently being used in 48 states across the country in over 5,000 policing agencies, to help deter vehicle theft and vehicle-involved crime. They are currently in the process of being installed in Niagara County.
Flock Safety's Head of Communications Holly Beilin notes that these cameras are not your typical license-plate reading cameras like you see on the highways to collect tolls.
"These are ALPR cameras, they're not video cameras. They capture still images and they're motion activated. They focus on vehicles, only the license plates and the vehicle details. They not only collected a picture of the license plate, but the software on the cameras actually are able to categorize vehicle details, like the make, the type, the color of the vehicle, and that's critical in cases where the plate is switched, or the plate is removed, or it's a stolen plate."
Both Chief Coons and Beilin address the commonly asked "invasion of privacy" query.
"What they do is they're just capturing plates and vehicles as they're driving by, the data is stored in the system for 30 days," explained the chief. "After the 30 days, it's completely purged from the system. It's tied in with the National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center, so we get real time warnings on stolen vehicles, stolen license plates, missing kids, Amber Alerts, silver alerts, they're not tied to the DMV, so we're not getting personal information on anybody. We're not capturing names, dates, dates of birth, and so forth."
"Cheektowaga Police, they own all of the data collected through this device," adds Beilin. "Flock safety does not own the data, we are merely the technology company. That data is saved for 30 days by default to be used in investigations, and then it is hard deleted. It is fully encrypted while it is stored for those 30 days and all searches conducted in the system are auditable."
Chief Coons also notes that since the tech was installed, Flock has aided in several major cases including vehicle thefts.
"We used it for the homicide on Walden Avenue, at the end of June here. And then it's also assisted us with a kidnapping arrest. They're an integral part of our town, integral part of our department. We rely on them quite heavily. And so it's a great tool for us."
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