LEXINGTON, Ky. — It’s been six months since a new camera system made its way to central Kentucky, and the public safety company behind them says its cameras are making strides to reduce violent crime.

Flock Safety works directly with federal and local law enforcement and city leaders to do so. Flock safety was established in 2017.

The public safety company has installed automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras to make communities safer. It includes some of Kentucky’s largest cities, like Louisville and Lexington.

Flock safety says cameras have a mission to reduce crime. Holly Beilin serves as a spokesperson for Flock Safety and says that mission is an enormous task, but it can be done.

“That’s a pretty big mission,” said Beilin.

Beilin says the cameras have made 2,000 communities safer. The cameras provide make, model, color, unique features and license plates of a car through ALPR. It only captures stolen vehicles and vehicles associated with a broad range of crimes.

“From things like vandalism or illegal dumping on the property crime spectrum, all the way to your more violent crimes like assaults, like your sexual crimes—We’re helping solve homicides across the country,” said Beilin.

Louisville installed the cameras in April 2022 and back in March of this year, Lexington moved forward with the cameras as well. During a council work session meeting that same month, commander Eric Lowe said they’re keeping the locations and total number of the cameras private.

“We are very hesitant to make a public list where all the cameras are because of vandalism. Also, we don’t want to send the message to anyone that: here’s the safe passages and here’s the not so safe passages,” said Assistant Chief Lowe.

The meeting the cameras were placed after the city & Flock Safety specifically analyzed crime patterns over the last two years, Lowe said. Even more recently, Lexington mayor Linda Gorton praised the cameras in a Twitter post this month, saying:

“Since the first installation in March, our Flock license plate readers have been very effective in helping our Lexington Police Department investigate crime.”

Right now Lexington’s statistics with the Flock Safety cameras reveal:

• 79 stolen vehicles recovered
• 142 people charged with crimes
• 30 firearms seized
• 11 missing persons located
• 107 warrants/subpoenas served
• 37 leads for investigations
• 396 total number of charges placed, and
• $1,308,062 in value of recovered vehicles

“The mayor and public officials there, as well as the police chief, have just been tracking these amazing statistics that show how we’re really reducing crime in Lexington,” Beilin said. “It is certainly a big growth area for us. We’re really proud to be reducing crime and solving crime in Kentucky. We’re excited to see continued expansion there.”

It will take the continued participation of city leaders to make cameras available in all Kentucky communities. Each month, the city of Lexington updates the community on statistics from Flock cameras.

According to Flock Safety, they work with 30 law enforcement agencies in Kentucky and almost 100 in the state of Indiana.