LANCASTER, N.Y. (WIVB) — Last month Lancaster police officers received an alert from their Flock license plate reader cameras that a vehicle with a stolen license plate had been detected.

Officers located the driver at a local motel and a search of the subject found two needles, one filled with suspected meth.

The male was arrested and charged for the allegedly stolen license plate as well as possession of narcotics.

A spokesperson from Flock license plate readers says this is one of many cases where these cameras are keeping neighbors safe.

“A lot of run-of-the-mill burglaries and robberies are actually committed with vehicles. So, a Flock license plate reader provides objective vehicular evidence that law enforcement can actually search to identify a specific vehicle that was involved in a crime,” said Flock’s spokesperson Holly Beilin.

Police are placing them in high-traffic areas and hot spots of crime. The cameras scan the plate as the car drives by, take a photo of the back of the car, and store it for 30 days then they are automatically deleted.

The images are fully encrypted and are also owned by the law enforcement agency, making them subject to oversight and auditing.

Other departments in the area are also using this technology, with Cheektowaga police placing them on utility poles across town this past fall. Captain Thomas Gerace said it’s a tool that’s paying dividends.

“We’ve solved things as varied as several arrests for possession of stolen motor vehicles, an arrest made for an armed robbery of a local store here on Walden that would not have been solved if it wasn’t for the Flock camera,” Gerace said. “The suspects fled in a vehicle that we just had a vehicle description and a possible state plate and because there was a camera nearby, we were able to identify that vehicle, identify the driver eventually and arrest them.”

In the past, residents said they were unsure of the cameras and concerned their privacy was being invaded. Gerace says the sole purpose of this tool is to fight crime.

“It doesn’t run the plate; we don’t know who owns the vehicle. It’s just a photograph of the vehicle and the license plate that we then use for investigative purposes,” Gerace said.

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Dillon Morello is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has been part of the News 4 team since September of 2023. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter.

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