University Police Catch Serial Burglar with Alerts from Flock Cameras

A Flock Safety license plate reading (LPR) camera used by Temple University recently led to the arrest of a man wanted in three states.

Temple University says it’s the first university police department in Pennsylvania to use this license plate reading system, which has led to the arrest of a suspected serial burglar within the region.
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The suspect was wanted for a series of burglaries throughout Wilmington, Delaware - and Flock Safety cameras alerted authorities that a stolen vehicle was on the Temple University campus.
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New Castle County police contacted Temple police, who proceeded to arrest the suspect.

‍“When he was arrested here at Temple, in the vehicle was property that linked him to the crimes, including latent fingerprints and DNA.”

- Major Corporal Richard Chambers of the New Castle County Police Department

‍‍The Flock system is a network of license plate readers across the country that offers access to leads from local, state, and nationwide networks of cameras with over 1 Billion additional plate reads monthly.

At Temple, the software is integrated in various areas throughout the campus, which eventually helped track down and identify the suspect.    Investigators say the suspect was wanted or suspected in a slew of other crimes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware at the time of his arrest. He allegedly would break into vehicles and homes when owners were sleeping - but the community is now safe from these offenses due to Flock Safety cameras.

“I am very proud of our diligent police officers and detectives who made this arrest happen quickly.”
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- Temple’s vice president of public safety, Jennifer Griffin