Community Members:
Earlier this week, the City Council approved a $1.4 million, 5-year contract for 69 Flock cameras that will be installed throughout Newport Beach -- the first of several planned public safety technology enhancements to improve crime prevention and investigations.
The Flock cameras (also known as ALPR, or automatic license plate readers) will be placed at all Newport Beach inbound and outbound gateways.
The cameras scan license plates and vehicle characteristics as vehicles pass through their field of view on public roadways. The images captured by the ALPRs are then processed, encrypted and uploaded to a secure database where they can only be accessed by the Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD). The database allows police officers and investigators to search by date, time, location, direction of travel, and vehicle description to identify vehicles used in crimes.
The system includes access to nationwide data and flags “hotlisted” vehicles that have been used in crimes. The NBPD will receive alerts on stolen vehicles, Amber Alerts, missing and endangered persons, and more.
With respect to privacy concerns, the cameras will only be accessed as part of a crime investigation and will not be used for traffic enforcement. Importantly, the cameras only identify vehicles and do not include facial recognition capabilities. The locations and camera angles are fixed, and only monitor roadways.
The Flock camera system was part of a series of recommendations presented to the Council in May by the Public Safety Technology Ad Hoc Committee. The committee spent several months evaluating new technologies used by neighboring police departments, and visited agencies where some of the proposed technologies are now in use, prior to making its recommendations.
The goal of these improvements is to equip officers and civilian police staff with the latest tools to gather and analyze crime information to improve decision-making, which will aid in crime prevention, the apprehension of criminals, and the recovery of stolen property. Deployment of the technology will also act as a deterrent for individuals and groups who evaluate potential crime targets, increasing overall community safety.
Other technology upgrades, which will be adopted in the coming months, include a Crime Information Center to serve as the central technology hub for real-time intelligence gathering and assessments, FUSUS software to boost the department’s pre-approved access to video surveillance, and the development of a drone program to monitor and investigate crime incidents.
City Manager, Grace K. Leung
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