USI to receive Flock Safety license plate cameras as sheriff's office adopts AI tool

EVANSVILLE — Artificial intelligence-powered license-plate-reading cameras are coming to Vanderburgh County more than a year after the Evansville Police Department began operating the devices within city limits.

The cameras, which are manufactured by Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company that offers a suite of tech-focused products primarily to law enforcement, won’t measure vehicles’ speed or help deputies hand out more tickets.

The black, solar-powered contraptions log vehicles’ license-plate numbers as they drive by, and corresponding software will afford the sheriff's office the ability to turn the data into what the company calls “actionable evidence.” In nearly real time, the VCSO will be able to receive alerts when a wanted vehicle crosses paths with one of the county’s new Flock Safety cameras.

The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office and the county council publicly announced the pending arrival of new Flock Safety Falcon cameras in November. The VCSO will initially operate 13 of the devices, though it plans to boost that figure to around 45 in 2024, which is a similar number to those in use by the EPD.

The 60-month agreement with Flock Safety will cost $240,050. That price tag includes the cameras themselves, Flock OS - which is the company's cloud-based system - and Flock Safety's advanced querying tool.

“The Flock Safety system is the most advanced of its kind and was designed specifically to target the weak link of most criminal endeavors, which is getting to and then away from the scene without being seen,” Sherriff Noah Robinson said in November.

The sheriff’s office was quick to point out what the cameras do, and don’t, do: They won’t act as “red light” cameras, boost ticket revenue, store data for more than 30 days or “analyze images of people.”

They will, the VCSO said, use “AI technology to search for and identify vehicles” and allow detectives to “connect vehicles to crimes,” among other uses.

Flock Safety officials say their system can notify detectives within a matter of seconds when a wanted or stolen vehicle drives past a camera. From there, deputies or officers can be sent to the location, or the evidence can simply be logged for use by detectives.

The University of Southern Indiana, which sits just outside Evansville city limits, announced this month it would receive three of the new batch of Flock Safety cameras. Steve Bridges, the university’s vice president for finance and administration, said the cameras underscored USI’s commitment to cutting-edge safety measures for our campus community.”

Sam Preston, USI’s interim public safety director, stated the cameras would enable deputies to “quickly know if there’s a potential risk to our community.”

The sheriff's office previously disclosed that some of the cameras would be placed in Darmstadt just north of Evansville.

Flock Safety is one of many companies marketing AI-powered tools to law enforcement, a trend that has drawn its fair share of detractors as well as proponents. The Courier & Press reported on the debate surrounding Flock Safety Cameras in 2022 when the EPD first announced it would install the devices in “high crime” areas.

Aside from Flock cameras, the EPD also uses AI-powered facial recognition technology manufactured by the company Clearview AI, as well as other tools that use AI to help track stolen goods, according to a review of public records.

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Critics have questioned the rate at which police have taken up relatively new, tech-powered tools and pointed to increasing levels of mass surveillance, risks to data security and the potential for AI to augment disparities in policing as areas of concern.

Flock Safety officials maintain that their cameras are different and inherently less invasive than products like Clearview AI. Company research has shown, they say, that the small, remote cameras “drive down crime” while also protecting privacy and promoting unbiased police work.

Flock Safety spokeswoman Holly Beilin spoke to the Courier & Press in 2022 about the company’s philosophy: "Flock Safety was really founded with the principle that we can balance both increased security and protecting our personal liberties, including our right to privacy," she said.

Internal safeguards help prevent abuse and misuse, Belin claimed. While detectives won’t require a warrant to utilize the roughly month’s worth of data compiled by Flock, they will have to enter an “access reason” and a case number to view vehicle images.

Flock Safety doesn’t just offer its products to law enforcement: Neighborhood associations can purchase the cameras and other Flock Safety tools, as can retail stores and schools.

The installation of Flock cameras and other AI-powered tools in private neighborhoods has, as one can imagine, sparked public debate. There have not been public reports of non-law-enforcement customers acquiring the cameras in Evansville.

Robinson and the sheriff's office are hoping to leverage Flock’s system to gather useful crime intelligence and solve cases faster. The sheriff points to the cameras’ successful track record with the EPD and the Warrick County Sherriff's Office, where they helped solve at least two missing persons cases, as evidence enough that Flock will be a wanted addition to VCSO detectives’ toolkits.

The agency in November encouraged “community partners” interested in having cameras placed near them to contact the sheriff’s office.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: USI to receive Flock Safety cameras as devices come to Vanderburgh