Flock Camera Helps Solve Deadly Northport Hit-and-Run As Network – and Concern – Grows

A Flock Safety camera and license plate reader helped solve a fatal hit-and-run case in Northport that was at risk of going cold, bringing fresh attention to the fast-spreading technology and concerns about its usage.

As the Thread previously reported, the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit had been working since late February to determine who struck and killed Willie Fleming, a 72-year-old pedestrian, on Highway 43 in Northport.

There were no witnesses to the collision, but using debris found at the scene and a nearby Flock camera, the VCU was able to locate and arrest a 58-year-old Northport woman allegedly responsible for the deadly hit-and-run.

So what is a Flock camera? What are they used for and where? After the arrest, the Thread spoke with Holly Beilin, a senior spokesperson for Flock, about their company.

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“Flock is actually a full public safety platform. We offer [license plate recognition cameras,] video cameras, gunshot detection sensors, drones as first responders, investigative software - it’s a full suite of hardware and software that helps solve problems,” Beilin said. “Our customers can be private entities like businesses and HOAs, or they can be law enforcement, cities, sheriff’s offices, or police departments.”

So here in Tuscaloosa County, there are more than 50 cameras in place, installed by both public and private clients. Alabama Power has placed them on poles throughout the area; some local grocery stores have them monitoring their parking lots, and city governments have also made agreements with Flock to install cameras overlooking public streets, park entrances and more.

This is happening everywhere - Alabama Power and the city of Birmingham have partnered to install more than 400. They also teamed up with Gadsden to add 15 there. And Hoover. And Ashville. Flock identifies Alabama Power as its longest-standing reseller.

Mostly, these are license plate recognition cameras, or LPRs. They have real-time proactive use, but can also save and store images of car tags for later investigation.

“Our flagship product, the LPRs, are motion-activated still cameras. They capture a picture of vehicles and specifically hone in on the license plate,” Beilin said. “First, our software compares that license plate to different state and national crime databases, and they’re able to actually determine if that plate is associated with a known stolen vehicle, a wanted offender or a missing person after an Amber Alert. If it is, then they can very quickly alert local law enforcement. This whole process takes place in just a couple of seconds.”

Then there’s the retroactive use, like what happened in Northport, Beilin explained.

“Let’s say a hit-and-run occurs. Law enforcement talks to the victim, who says, ‘OK, I know that the vehicle that hit me was a white Subaru and the plate started with a 75, but I wasn’t able to catch the rest.’” she said. “Law enforcement can actually search the system; they know where the hit-and-run occurred, so they know if there were cameras in that vicinity. They can search those cameras for a white Subaru with a plate starting with 75 within the time frame of that hit-and-run. If any vehicles match that description, it gives them a lead to start investigating the case.”

That’s how the VCU was able to solve the hit-and-run that killed Fleming. Investigators matched debris at the scene to the car make and model - a Nissan Pathfinder. They were then able to search images captured by a nearby Flock camera, identify the car matching the debris, and use the license plate to locate and arrest the driver. The vehicle had reportedly been hidden out of sight in a barn on her property - there’s no telling if it would ever have been tied to the crime without the camera.

That arrest showcases one of the best imaginable uses for the Flock cameras - to provide evidence in a case where none exists and to help effect an arrest that might otherwise have been impossible.

It’s also not hard to imagine why a client like Target might have an LPR in the parking lot - it’s a lot easier to identify and prosecute shoplifters when you record the car tag of every vehicle at the store.

Even so, concerns are growing around the country about these AI-powered cameras popping up everywhere. One website tracking Flock LPRs - coincidentally founded by an Alabama man - shows almost 90,000 known cameras in the U.S. and 60+ in the greater Tuscaloosa area.

Opponents to the tech call it mass surveillance, collecting data on millions of drivers before they’re ever suspected of committing a crime.

Beilin said she understands those concerns, but said Flock cameras are capturing and storing very little information for very good uses.

“Their biggest concern is privacy, and that’s a fair concern. We strongly believe that privacy protections are critical and enshrined in American law and the Constitution. But I think it’s also really important to understand the limited amount of information these cameras actually capture,” she told the Thread. “They’re photographing the exterior of vehicles that are driving in plain view, and they can’t see inside the vehicle. They’re specifically shooting the license plate, which isn’t actually your own property. It’s sort of rented to a driver by the state to identify a vehicle for public safety - that’s the point of it! And within the system, you can’t look up the registered owner or anything like that. That requires police to conduct additional investigative work in other databases. So it’s a really limited amount of information when it comes to thinking about privacy protections, and it’s for a really good use case. We know that roughly one missing person across the country is found every single day using the system.”

Beilin also noted that each client decides who can access the photos and other data they capture using Flock cameras - the images aren’t just dumped into one shared library.

“The customer who pays for the cameras owns and controls that data. So, the Tuscalosa Police Department and an HOA in Tuscalosa are on separate camera networks; they each own the data collected on their networks and control it,” she said. “So, the HOA can choose to share their camera data with their local sheriff’s office, but they can also choose not to, because they own and control that data.”

Representatives for the city of Tuscaloosa declined to answer questions about how many cameras are in use in the city, when agreements approving the LPRs were voted on or how long such contracts will last.

Brent Blankley, the city’s Executive Director of Public Safety, gave the Thread this statement.

“The Tuscaloosa Police Department uses Flock cameras across the city,” he said. “Numerous HOA’s, apartment complexes, etc., use license plate recognition as well. If a crime is committed and there’s reason to believe a suspect has driven through a camera area, they will often share that data with TPD.”

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