News Release City of Kearney
KEARNEY, Neb.-The Kearney Police Department received City Council Approval during the June 14 City Council meeting to enter into an agreement with Flock Safety for a 60-day automated license plate reading camera (ALPR) pilot program. Twenty-eight ALPR cameras have been installed in strategic areas throughout the city to help solve and reduce crime. The cameras are built and installed by Flock Safety, a public safety technology company that helps neighborhoods, communities, and law enforcement work together to fight crime.
Flock Safety ALPR cameras help law enforcement investigate crime by providing objective evidence, license plates, and vehicle characteristics. To proactively prevent crime from occurring in the City of Kearney, the cameras send a real-time alert to law enforcement when a stolen car or known wanted person from a state or national crime database enters the jurisdiction. The ALPR can also send alerts if a vehicle associated with a missing person, an AMBER or Endangered Mission Advisory Alert is detected.
The Kearney Police Department has put a strict policy in place regulating the usage of the ALPR system. Each search requires a justification, is audited internally to ensure proper use, and the data is never sold or shared with third parties. All provisions of Nebraska Revised Statues, Automatic License Plate Reader Privacy Act, including annual reporting requirements, will be strictly adhered to. The cameras will be used to solve and reduce property, and violent crime and are not intended for minor traffic or parking violations. Additionally, in an effort to be transparent with our community, demonstrate our proper usage of the system, and communicate what guardrails are in place, a Flock Safety Transparency Portal is available for viewing on our website making policies and usage statistics available to the public along with frequently asked questions related to the ALPR program.
This system does not use facial recognition, personal identification information, or conduct traffic enforcement. The data is stored for 30 days and automatically deleted unless used in a criminal investigation. The data is also never sold to a third party and is the property of the Kearney Police Department.
“As we begin to test and evaluate the use of ALPR cameras in Kearney with the Flock Safety Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) system, I want to once again remind our community the sole purpose of this system is to prevent, deter, solve, and eliminate crime," said Chief Bryan D. Waugh. "This system is not a tool for traffic enforcement, data collection, or tracking not related to criminal activity. The statistics provided below show, in a very short period of time, the ALPR system has led toseveral wanted fugitives being arrested, multiple stolen vehicles being recovered, and investigative leads have been formed toward preventing and/or solving crime."
"This system has already proven extremely valuable in enhancing our capabilities toward public safety and law enforcement," said Chief Waugh. "I am confident in the policies we have in place and the training provided to our officers to ensure proper use of this tool and compliance with rules, regulations, and laws pertaining to the use of ALPR systems.”
The 60 – day pilot program began after the last ALPR was installed on July 26, 2022. To date, the 28 ALPR’s in Kearney have read over 2.2 Million license plates, 614,179 are unique license plate reads, meaning the remainder are the same license plate read multiple times at multiple ALPR locations. Two (2) felony arrests and five (5) misdemeanor arrests have been made with individuals having outstanding arrest warrants located following Flock Safety ALPR alerts. Four
(4) stolen vehicles have been recovered after Flock Safety ALPR cameras alerted officers. Additionally, officers have utilized the Flock Safety ALPR system to follow-up on a possible domestic violence/physical disturbance report, stolen vehicle alerts, investigative leads involving a potential theft, and an unauthorized use of a motor vehicle report.
After the sixty-day pilot program, the Kearney Police ALPR project team comprised of the Chief of Police, Police Services Commander, Criminal Investigations Lieutenant, Professional Standards Lieutenant, and Property/Evidence Supervisor will compile statistical data related to potential crime reduction, case clearance and general deterrence during the pilot program. A full report will be provided to the City Manager and City Council with a recommendation.