Flock Safety
How does Flock work?
As vehicles pass by, the system cameras take a photo of the rear of the vehicle and a close-up image of the license plate. The system then compares this license plate against national law enforcement databases of vehicles of interest. If a match is found, an immediate alert is sent to the Live Oak Police Department. In addition to real-time alerts, the system will also be used to aid criminal investigations after an incident has occurred.
Only authorized Live Oak Police Department personnel who have been trained will have access to the system, and all access will be logged and audited. Captured data will be securely stored for only 30 days unless it is part of an active investigation. The cameras do not capture images of individuals and do not use facial recognition technology. All data collected will be used solely for law enforcement purposes.
The Flock System cameras are used to solve and reduce property crimes and crimes against persons. Data is only used as it pertains to criminal investigations and public safety concerns. These cameras will not be used for traffic infractions, immigration enforcement, or monitoring 1st Amendment-protected expressive activity. These cameras do not have facial recognition, nor do they collect biometric or sensitive information. Deployed cameras will not capture information from inside community members' homes or other protected areas where law enforcement would otherwise not be permitted.
All data is stored securely with end-to-end encryption. Each search requires just ification, and the data is owned by the Live Oak Police Department and is never sold or sharedwith third parties outside of law enforcement. Unless it pertains to a criminalinvestigation, all data automatically deletes after 30 days.
For additional information and data about our Flock Safety system, please click to visit our Transparency Portal.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A system that captures images of license plates. It compares those plates against national law enforcement databases for matches, like those of reported stolen vehicles, stolen license plates, missing persons, and Amber Alerts.
Data collected by the Flock camera system is strictly controlled and accessible only by trained and authorized personnel within the Live Oak Police Department. Access is securely managed through strict controls, protocols, and audit logs to ensure accountability, transparency, and privacy.
No, the use of Flock cameras by the City does not violate residents' privacy or constitutional rights. The cameras capture still images of license plates and vehicle details only—they do not record personal details of individuals, have facial recognition capabilities, or collect personal identification information. The system is designed specifically to help law enforcement identify vehicles associated with criminal activities or missing persons.
All data collected is securely stored and managed, and strict policies and oversight are in place to protect residents' privacy.
The City is committed to full transparency about the Flock camera system. We have established a Transparency Portal (provided by Flock Safety) that is accessible through the City’s website. This portal will provide real-time insights into how many searches have been performed, license plates scanned, and other operational details.
The digital data is automatically deleted after 30 days. The data is stored using the Amazon Web Services cloud, where all data is fully encrypted at rest.
Each officer utilizes their own login to the Flock software. Officers can log in to the Flock Safety portal utilizing their Mobile Dispatch Terminal (MDT) inside their vehicle or their department-issued cell phone. The Flock Safety portal will run in the background and, when an alert is indicated, the alert will sound and show up on the officer’s screen.
