CALVERTON PARK, Mo. — Flock cameras are helping police departments in St. Louis County catch up to stolen vehicles.
Lt. Sean Gibbons of the Calverton Park Police Department said cameras have been set up around the Village of Calverton Park for the past four months.
When a stolen vehicle or license plate passes a camera, officers on duty are notified via phone and email almost immediately with details and a picture. Calverton Park cameras are picking up an average of three to seven stolen vehicles or plates a day.
"They can be used to locate stolen vehicles, amber alert, children that are missing," Gibbons said. "You can do searches by license plates and locate vehicles that are captured by any shared camera."
"Normally when you are looking for a stolen vehicle, you are going to have to patrol a certain area a number of times. Run license plates in the computer which takes your eyes and hands off of the road," he said.
All of the cameras on connected by the Flock network. Any vehicle in the system can be picked up by any camera in the network.
Creve Coeur Police recently announced they were going to utilize Flock cameras to help crack down on car thefts.
"We are trying to make a pretty good cover throughout north county to eliminate these types of crimes," Gibbons said. "When it becomes more difficult to drive throughout north county without being noticed, it's a good deterrent."
Calverton Park Police said the service only costs $2,500 a year.
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