LDG faced growing safety risks and needed a smarter way to protect its properties.

LDG Development, a leading affordable housing developer operating across ten U.S. states, faced a growing challenge: maintaining safety and preventing crime in communities often located in under-resourced neighborhoods. As a company committed to building not just homes but lasting, secure communities, LDG recognized that traditional measures—such as property gates or off-duty police patrols—while helpful, were no longer sufficient on their own. They found that police are often unavailable for extra patrols due to staffing shortages, and gate codes or key fobs can be easily shared by residents.

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Adding to this complexity, many LDG properties were still under construction or located in urban areas with elevated risks of theft, vandalism, and violence. To meet resident expectations and their own standards of care, LDG knew they needed a forward-thinking approach—one that could proactively deter crime, support investigations, and reduce liability across their growing portfolio.

LDG turned to Flock Safety’s LPR technology for proactive, cost-effective community protection.

In 2022, LDG hired Yvette Gentry, a former interim police chief, to serve as Director of Resident and Community Safety. Leveraging her law enforcement experience and prior knowledge of Flock Safety’s effectiveness in investigations, Gentry championed a pivot to technology-first safety strategies.

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Starting in 2024, LDG made it a standard practice to install Flock Safety’s License Plate Readers (LPR) technology on all new properties. These tools are now deployed across 78 LDG communities—with a goal to expand to all 120+ sites. Flock’s infrastructure-free platform offered a reliable and scalable method for detecting and deterring crime by capturing vehicle data linked to criminal activity. Equally important, the technology is integrated with law enforcement agencies, enabling real-time alerts and supporting active investigations.

‍Since adopting Flock Safety, LDG has seen measurable improvements in safety and community trust:

• 100% Case Closure Rate: In all four shootings that occurred on LDG properties since implementation, arrests have been made or suspects identified using Flock’s AI-powered gunshot detection, LPR cameras, and video cameras.

• Crime Prevention & Deterrence: Properties equipped with Flock have experienced reduced car break-ins, unauthorized entry, and dumping of stolen vehicles. Simply having visible cameras and lighting has deterred bad actors.

• Faster Resolutions & Liability Protection: Flock has helped thwart insurance fraud, like a contractor who falsely claimed his vehicle was damaged on-site—only for LDG to prove it arrived already damaged. Video evidence has also been invaluable in defending against slip-and-fall lawsuits.

• Enhanced Police Collaboration: The ability for law enforcement to receive instant notifications about stolen vehicles and suspects dramatically increases police presence and engagement at LDG properties.

• Data-Driven Risk Management: LDG pulls quarterly crime stats from local departments to evaluate the impact of their security investments, allowing them to fine-tune efforts and allocate resources intelligently.

• Resident Trust and Communication: Through platforms like Knock, LDG communicates safety updates in real time—strengthening resident trust and increasing retention.

Flock technology also helped in an unexpected way: it aided in the apprehension of a murder suspect from Cincinnati who passed through an LDG property in Louisville. Though the individual had no known connection to the property, the camera alert prevented a potential threat from harming residents or law enforcement.

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Looking forward, LDG is exploring Flock’s mobile security trailers and more integrations during early construction stages, recognizing that prevention must begin before a property is even completed.

By integrating technology from the start, LDG has not only raised the bar for safety in affordable housing but also set a replicable model for developers nationwide.

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