Frequently Asked Questions
License Plate Readers – Flock Safety System
There was a neighborhood election that established the parcel fee funding for the Melrose East Crime Prevention District (MECPD). As part of several public meetings prior to the election, LPRs were presented as a technology that would be considered. Since the election, we have had numerous public meetings during which details of License Plate Readers (LPRs) and the Flock System have been discussed. The following are some of the general questions that surfaced and specific questions relative to the access to the data collected by Flock.
How many Cameras were installed? Five (5) Cameras have been installed to date. The deployment plan for 2022 is complete.
Who proposed the installation of these devices?
The MECPD has completed multiple reviews of planning and research. Based on our conversations with other CPDs, the police departments and comparisons between vendors, financial and other considerations, the board selected this system.
What are the 3rd Party policies of Flock?
Flock Safety has strict third-party policies that focus on customer data ownership and privacy, including a strict prohibition on selling customer data. Flock does use third-party service providers for operations but maintains control over the data.
Will they be selling or sharing this data with anyone? Do they automatically, routinely share this data with the police? The Real Time Crime City of Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office (EBRSO) will have access to the cloud base system and will be able to monitor the data in real time
Who has access to this data?
MECPD board will establish who within our organization needs access to the FLOCK dashboard, but it will be limited to certain roles within the seven-member board. Because the BRPD and EBRSO will monitor the data, there is no need for any member of the board to be responsible for monitoring the data. A resident will be able to request data from the policing agency if there is a case number associated with the request.
How often is the data automatically deleted, or does it get saved indefinitely?
Flock is a cloud-based system that deletes data 30 days after it was captured unless a specific request is made by a law enforcement agency to retain data associated with an active investigation with a case number. The MECPD does not retain any data at any time.
Can this data only be accessed in the event of a police report or is it always being analyzed (and if so, by whom)?
Data is viewable or searchable only by those given access to the Flock system, and an audit trail is viewable to those with access to the platform. The police departments will transfer any information associated with a case to their evidence platform that will be outside of our MECPD system.
Is Flock being paid to monitor this data?
No.
Who owns the LPRs?
Flock Safety owns the LPRs. The MECPD has entered into a 1 year service agreement with Flock Safety. The service agreement includes the cameras, cloud-based data and dashboard and maintenance. At the end of the 1 year term, the district can renew or decide to cancel the contract.
