Bedford Police to Expand Camera Network

October 1, 2024

The Bedford Police Department is nearly quadrupling its camera surveillance network with the acquisition of 20 additional cameras for reading vehicle license plates. As a consent item at last Tuesday (September 24), City Council unanimously (6-0) approved the two-year “purchase and maintenance” agreement with Flock Safety Group. The equipment, according to the Council’s meeting agenda, is used to support criminal investigations and in “maintaining a safe community environment.”

The cost for the additional cameras and equipment, as stated by City Manager Andrea Roy, is $136,000, which is to be paid out of the police department’s budget.

Included in the purchase is an overall operating system, according to a copy of the invoice that is attached to the agenda. According to Flock’s website, the system is designed to “integrate first- and third-party data across video, license plate recognition (LPR) and audio to deliver real-time intelligence and retroactive crime solving.”

For Bedford Police, as listed on the invoice, the system will “integrate” 15 Flock Safety Falcon license plate recognition (LPR) cameras along with four Flock Safety Condor cameras that feature the capability for “high-definition, AI-powered video.” A 16th Falcon camera will be solar-powered.

The information gathered by the camera network is stored for up to 30 days, stated Interim Police Chief Bobby LaPenna, and is shared with more than 200 other law enforcement agencies on local, state and federal levels.

Bedford Police have already been operating seven of the cameras, according to Roy.

The Secure Dad, which self-describes its mission as focusing on “family protection” and “home security,” describes Flock Safety as a seven-year-old Atlanta-based company that applies technology to help “deter crime by providing data about where and when cars have been tagged on its camera system using artificial intelligence (AI).” The cameras produced by the company, combined with artificial intelligence, the Secure Dad website states, are primarily used by “law enforcement, schools, businesses and homeowner associations.”

Photo of Flock Safety camera courtesy of The Secure Dad

“When a vehicle passes a Flock camera,” as explained by The Secure Dad website, “a photo and video are taken. AI technology pulls the license plate number and categorizes the vehicle characteristics. If you are not suspected of a crime, your information is logged and can be searched before being deleted after 30 days. If you are on a police ‘hot list,’ the location data is pushed to law enforcement immediately for a response.”

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Flock is “building a giant camera network that records people’s comings and goings” for police and other law enforcement agencies. The ACLU further describes the Flock camera system as “a centralized mass surveillance system” and states that Motorola Solutions is seeking to develop a comparable network.

As reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, it has been about five years since red light cameras disappeared from street corners in Bedford and around the state as a result of the passage of House Bill 1631, submitted by then-State Representative Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford. Although supporters stated the cameras made the streets safer and generated revenue for cities, the Star-Telegram noted, opponents argued they violated the U.S. Constitution.

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