Morgan County Sheriff Robert Markley announced the activation of Flock License Plate Reader (LPR) cameras throughout the county last week.
According to a press release sent from the MCSO, Markley is excited about this new tool and its potential for public safety enhancement.
According to the MCSO, “the Flock LPRs are not speeding ticket devices, but rather cameras that document vehicle licenses and the description of vehicles that pass the cameras on the highways.”
Morgan County has partnered with the cities of Bostwick and Rutledge to provide 12 Flock LPR cameras that will complement the seven Morgan County Homeowner Association (HOA) Flock LPR cameras that are already in use by the HOAs.
Much of the Morgan County crime is committed by criminals who come from other counties, the MCSO said. The Flock LPRs will have a “Hot List” that will notify Morgan County deputies when a stolen vehicle or a person with an arrest warrant who is associated with a vehicle registration enters Morgan County. This is a proactive strategy to intervene before these criminals can victimize Morgan County citizens.
The Flock LPRs will also give investigators crucial leads when investigating other crimes. There are approximately 2,500 Flock LPR cameras shared in Georgia with over 20,000 Flock LPRs nationwide. The number of Flock LPR cameras increases daily as additional agencies come online.
Sheriff Markley said that if there had been a Flock LPR on Newborn Road at I-20 in December of 2020, “we would have documented the vehicle used by DeKalb County offenders who murdered a man in Decatur and dumped his body on Newborn Road.”
Chief Deputy Keith Howard stated that the future crime prevention strategy is to partner with Morgan County businesses that have a surveillance camera focused outside the business. The Flock system allows businesses to give the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office online access to the outside surveillance cameras, allowing for the viewing of live video or remote retrieval of the previous video for quicker processing of investigative leads.
By Georgia law, the Flock LPR cameras are not subject to open records and must be used for law enforcement purposes only.