The challenge: a burglar who knew police need a license plate to solve a case

A burglar broke into a home in a Colorado neighborhood in the middle of a weekday, planning to drive away with thousands of dollar’s worth of valuables.

This burglar was familiar with their target. They knew the homeowners were away for the day and knew the neighborhood had security cameras at the entrances and exits.

They were also familiar with the kind of evidence police need to pursue a case: a license plate.

The burglar removed the plate from their vehicle before driving into the neighborhood, believing that without a license plate, they wouldn’t get caught.

The solution: license plate reading cameras that see like a detective

This Colorado neighborhood had recently installed six Flock Safety license plate reading cameras at the entrances and exits of their neighborhood. They trusted Flock Safety to still catch the perpetrator because they knew their cameras could read more than just a license plate.

Research shows that 70% of nonviolent crimes occur with a vehicle, and Flock Safety has the ability to read and capture vehicle details as actionable evidence for police.

Flock’s technology reads the color and type of vehicle, along with a timestamp, how often the vehicle has been in the neighborhood, and if there are any visible objects such as an animal, bicycle, or person.

Filter your search by details as specific or wide as you need

Flock shows how many times a vehicle has passed by the camera, along with details like the color and license plate number

A diligent homeowner witnessed the attempted burglary and called the police. This resident was also able to provide details like the color and build of the vehicle. The resident also provided these details to the HOA board’s security chair so he could search through footage captured by their Flock Safety security cameras.

The security chair used Flock’s search tool to search for vehicles that matched the color and build provided by the resident.

Within minutes, he found a match. Flock had captured the vehicle even without the license plate. Further searching pulled up more images of the same vehicle. It turns out the burglar had been through the neighborhood recently—with the license plate still attached. The neighborhood security chair quickly sent the captured footage to the police.

Within 1 hour of receiving the evidence from the neighborhood’s security chair, police were able to locate the suspect and make an arrest.

More importantly, police and the neighborhood were able to send a message to any potential burglar that crime can have immediate consequences and that citizens are watching out for each other.

This neighborhood feels safer today knowing Flock Safety cameras can catch even burglars who plan ahead.

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