argate Police Plan to Install 14 License Plate Surveillance Cameras Throughout City

Flock Safety Camera.

By Kevin Deutsch

Margate Police plan to purchase an array of high-tech license plate surveillance cameras that “see like a detective” and install them in high-traffic areas throughout the city.

According to city documents, the 14 stationary cameras, plus two mobile cameras, would cost $48,400 to purchase and $43,500 a year to maintain. The money would come from a federal law enforcement trust fund, which includes assets seized during police investigations.

The license plate reader technology is made and sold by Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company that claims its cameras “capture objective evidence and [use] machine learning to create and deliver unbiased investigative leads to law enforcement.”

“Don’t waste time scrolling through hours of footage,” the company’s website states in a sales pitch to law enforcement agencies. “Our automatic license plate readers include patented Vehicle Fingerprint technology, which leverages machine learning and computer vision to break down the captured evidence into searchable queries. Now, you go from a crime in progress to instantly find the suspect [using search functions].”

Flock Safety’s technology is currently being used by more than 700 law enforcement agencies in over 1,200 municipalities across the U.S., according to the company.

The solar-powered devices can capture and process data on up to 30,000 vehicles per camera per day, the company states in its marketing materials.

Margate Police Plan to Install 14 License Plate Surveillance Cameras Throughout City

A license plate reader camera made by Flock Safety {Flock Safety}

According to Flock, the cameras do much more than read license plate tags.

The readers are “the first camera that sees like a detective,” the company boasts on its site. Each device can record a vehicle’s make, model, and color; in-depth license plate data, including information on missing or covered plates; unique features like roof racks, bumper stickers, and window stickers; the number of times a vehicle has been seen on camera in the past 30 days; and link a car to its associated vehicles, the company said.

Among other surveillance features, the technology can take visual images from any source and find matching vehicles captured on Flock cameras, according to the company.

Margate Police plan to install the stationary cameras at the following locations, according to public records provided to city commissioners:

– 31st Street and State Road 7

– 900 S. State Rd. 7

– Banks Road and West Atlantic Boulevard

– 800 block of Royal Palm Boulevard

– Copans Road and Banks Road

– Coconut Creek Boulevard and North State Road 7

– 800 block of West Atlantic Boulevard

– Rock Island Road and Sample Road

– Holiday Springs Boulevard and West Sample Road

– Sample Road and Banks Road

The police department currently uses two license plate reader cameras made by a different company, Vigilant, but the number of new cameras they want to add would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if purchased from the company, the department said.

Margate commissioners are scheduled to vote on whether to approve the purchase of the new cameras at their Aug. 31 meeting.

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Kevin Deutsch

Kevin Deutsch is an award-winning crime journalist and author. A graduate of Florida International University, Kevin has worked on staff at The Miami Herald, New York Daily News, and The Palm Beach Post.