Frequently Asked Questions

Flock Safety is a public safety operating system that helps cities, businesses, schools and law enforcement in thousands of communities work together to stop crime, protect privacy, and mitigate bias. They build hardware and write software that captures the objective evidence police need to solve crimes.

ALPR stands for Automatic License Plate Readers. ALPR cameras have long helped law enforcement solve crimes.

Flock Safety products can be used by anyone who wants to reduce crime in their community. Flock Safety products are useful for neighborhood HOA boards, police officers, business owners, community improvement districts (CIDs), business improvement districts (BIDs), neighborhood associations, property management, property developers, and any other community members who want to eliminate crime.

Flock Safety technology is purpose-built to remove human bias from crime-solving. The ALPR cameras and machine learning technology are engineered to capture vehicle characteristics, types, and license plates, which are then checked against state and federal records to ensure accuracy and minimize errors. 

Because license plate readers do not collect information on who is driving or riding in the vehicle, it is not considered Personally Identifiable Information (PII). The Flock Safety technology does not capture images of pedestrians or passersby. The ALPR cameras take still images of cars passing through the lens (not video) and cannot follow or track vehicles once they leave the camera’s view.

 Flock Safety will never record names, phone numbers, or addresses and doesn’t mark specific locations where people have been. There is no capability in the system to mark or annotate the locations of passersby. 

Finally, Flock Safety is built to enable and encourage transparency, with several features that create robust audit capability. Both private and law enforcement customers must enter a reason for each search made through the Flock Safety system.

Flock Safety camera footage is stored then deleted after 30 days for privacy and security purposes. It is stored using the Amazon Web Services cloud where all data is fully encrypted at rest. No Personally Identifiable Information is collected or stored.

: Flock Safety helps solve and reduce all types of violent and non-violent crime. Some of the main types of property crime Flock Safety addresses include mail and package theft, home invasions, vandalism, illegal dumping, trespassing and burglary. The system regularly helps solve violent crimes as well, including assault, kidnappings, shootings, and homicides. 

The system Alerts additionally notify law enforcement of vehicles that are in local, state and national databases associated with crimes such as sex offenders, stolen vehicles, stolen plates, warrants, and missing people. The system is not used for minor traffic offenses and parking. 

License plate numbers and Flock’s Vehicle Fingerprint technology give law enforcement the objective, actionable leads needed to solve investigations. It can help pinpoint a subject’s last known location, which narrows down the search radius and time to solve crime.

Branson PD has specific policies in place to prevent misuse of the system. Searches of the system require a specific case number and reason for use. All reasons provided are able to be audited and our agency Flock Administrators conduct regular audits of the system searches.

: Branson PD received a local violent crime prevention grant for about $23,800 to cover the installation cost and our current cameras for 1 year. Annual costs associated with the camera program, and potentially growing the program, will be included in future police operating budgets and/or grant funded.