SAN ANTONIO – They are watching you while you’re driving.
The use of license plate-reading cameras is quickly spreading across communities around San Antonio. However, there are some concerns with its use.
Earlier this year, KSAT reported on the Universal City Police Department starting to use the Flock System cameras.
The department has 11 cameras, with no plans to add more.
Universal City police provided KSAT with a long list of cases and arrests that have been executed with the use of the Flock System data. Some include theft, burglary and drug cases.
The Live Oak Police Department says 16 people in stolen-vehicle cases have been arrested based on data from its license plate reader cameras. They currently have 23 Flock cameras and plan to add five more.
The Flock System can be instrumental in arrests involving catalytic converter thefts, assaults, robberies and criminal offenses, Live Oak police say.
New Braunfels Police Chief Osvaldo Flores says his department has 17 flock cameras and will add 40 more. He attributed 19 arrests to the cameras.
“How it works is that the officers have in their vehicles that system on their computer. So if they see something that comes up through an alert system indicating that a vehicle that has been placed in that hot list, it alerts the officer that that vehicle has passed that location,” said Osvaldo. And then the officer can then respond to that location to then try to then find that vehicle that was listed on there.”
KSAT asked San Antonio police if they are considering installing Flock Cameras. A department spokesperson said they don’t plan to currently, but indicated that police units are already equipped with license plate reader systems that can help track stolen vehicles on the road.
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