The Challenge

Navigating an Unfortunate Reality

In pursuing their commitment to safety, a Georgia school system fosters a safe and nurturing environment by collaborating with families, students, and staff. After the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, the Director of Safety and Security knew it was time to proactively bolster security measures and address safety concerns within the community.

The Director of Safety and Security asked each school board member to nominate parents, faculty, and staff, to serve on a school safety committee. Together, the newly formed group recruited community members, including firefighters, police officers, mental health experts, and principals from local schools to create a list of safety and security priorities to address.

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The Solution

Taking a Proactive Approach to School Safety with License Plate Reader (LPR) Cameras

At the time, the school system used thousands of live video cameras and external door sensors to provide additional security and conducted regular emergency preparedness drills. Still, they wanted to take a more proactive approach to threat assessment and collaborate with law enforcement when incidents occur. They decided to join the growing network of 50+ school districts and colleges, 1,500+ law enforcement agencies, and 3,000+ communities leveraging Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras to create a virtual gate around their 100+ schools. The school system worked with Flock Safety’s Deployment Team to place Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras in strategic locations, such as the entrance and exits of parking lots and other high-traffic areas.

Why LPR Cameras?

School campuses have increased vehicle traffic which creates more opportunities for criminal activity. Why? Because according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 70% of crimes involve a vehicle. By capturing license plates and vehicle details in crime-prone areas like school parking lots, license plate reader cameras play a critical role in providing 24/7 security and deterring crime in and around schools. A license plate reader camera, such as Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras, can capture license plate numbers and other unique vehicle details using Vehicle Fingerprint® technology, helping deter crime in a parking lot, a school entrance, or anywhere else on campus.

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LPR Cameras for Proactive Threat Assessment

By alerting Administrators and School Safety & Security teams that a vehicle they have identified as at-risk, such as a suspended student, disgruntled employee, or registered sex offender, enters their campus – Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras help minimize threats quickly. This improves threat assessment—a primary component of school safety strategy.

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Flock Safety for Law Enforcement Collaboration

When crimes occur on or around school property, license plates or vehicle descriptions are a vital piece of evidence police officers need to make an arrest. Schools can choose to share data from their LPR cameras with local law enforcement to investigate criminal activity, make arrests, and prevent further crime. Flock Safety enables administrators to set up custom notifications that notify campus law enforcement when there are unauthorized or threat-listed plates in the area.

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Protecting Student Privacy

The school system was enthusiastic about implementing Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras because of their ability to secure school property, while protecting the privacy of students and staff. The LPR cameras can scan license plates and other characteristics of any vehicle but are not intended for people or faces. Data captured by the system is owned by the school district and won't be shared or sold. The data is stored in the cloud and deleted from Flock systems after 30 days.

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Early Success

Improving Safety Optics and Crime Deterrence

Attitudes around school safety are at an all-time low. The fear and anxiety that parents, students, and employees experience negatively impact trust, truancy, and
staff retention across the country:

• 69% of parents are worried about gun violence happening at their students’ school*
• 50% of teachers reported a desire or plan to quit or transfer their jobs due to concerns about school climate and school safety**
• 9% of high school students reported skipping one day of class per month because they felt
  unsafe***

By implementing Flock Safety, there was a noticeable shift in attitudes as the cameras provide a visual symbol of safety, ultimately creating an environment where parents, students, and staff feel safer.

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#SolvedStories

Mitigating Gun Violence on Campus

Not long into the school year, two parents in different vehicles in the school drop-off line got into an argument with their windows down. One parent brandished a firearm and drove away. The other parent exited their vehicle and ran into the school to report the threat, providing a partial plate number and a vehicle description. The School Safety and Security team collaborated with local law enforcement to search nearby Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras with the limited information they had. Together, they quickly identified the vehicle and its location and apprehended the aggressive parent.

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Improving Operations and Addressing Property Crime

In addition to proactive safety measures, the Safety and Security Team notes that using Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras for practical day-to-day process improvements and property management, including:

• Monitoring traffic patterns to optimize school pick-up and drop-off
• Addressing theft of equipment from school buildings
• Ensuring student attendance: If a vehicle doesn’t show up, is the kid safe?
• Preventing and solving illegal dumping: Identify vehicles unloading large trash items into school dumpsters

The use of Flock Safety cameras has significantly improved crime deterrence and prevention, general operations, and optics across the school system while protecting student privacy, ultimately leading to a more positive public perception of the school system’s safety strategy.

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Data Sources | *2022 Pew Research study | ** 2022 APA study survey of over 15K K-12 faculty and staff | ***CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)