Video doorbells and security cameras are becoming more and more popular, but some neighbourhoods are stepping up security with special cameras that track every licence plate going in or out of their streets.

Flock safety’s licence plate recognition

The cameras by Flock Safety, track every licence plate that drives through the street

A person visited a Los Angeles area neighborhood that has installed the cameras at the entrance and exit to their street. “In the last few years, car break-ins, some vandalism, and a couple of burglaries,” said Robert Shontell, resident and part of the neighborhood watch.

He showed their two setups, which consist of a camera, a solar panel, and a cellular modem. The cameras by Flock Safety, track every licence plate that drives through the street.

Real-time monitoring

Imagine if a detective was standing on the street corner, that’s how the camera works,” said Garrett Langley, founder, and CEO of Flock Safety. He spoke with us via Skype from Atlanta.

Footage from the cameras is sent to the cloud in real-time, it can then be easily searched online.

A person like myself yourself can go in and say ‘I’m looking for red trucks that don’t live here that left the neighborhood between 2 PM and 4 PM yesterday’ … Go!” explained Langley. “Almost on the hour, we have a police department that’s using our technology to make an arrest.”

Installation and maintenance

The cameras are installed on private property but capture public streets. Residents cover the costs of installation and maintenance, which run between $15 and $25 per year on average for each homeowner in the neighborhood using them.

Flock says residents can opt of having their cars logged, the homeowners own the footage and it’s removed from the cloud after 30 days for privacy.

I think it works really well, but it’s not an end-all to everything. I think it’s part of a system that you need to develop for your community,” concluded Shontell.

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