A crew of six suspects was apprehended in Southern California and linked to a series of thefts at retail chains, thanks to the Flock Safety license plate reader cameras.

It’s one of several success stories reported by Deputy Chief of Police Travis Martinez, recipient of an Officer of the Year Award by the California Robbery Investigators Association and a 27-year long veteran of the Redlands Police Department, which is located about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. Deputy Chief Martinez is known across the country for educating audiences on the use of technology to generate successful, evidence-based leads. 

Flock Safety cameras are now helping Redlands PD protect their community against the rise of organized retail crime. 

Organized retail crime impacts the entire community 

If you live near a large shopping center, it’s practically guaranteed that your local law enforcement is dealing with organized retail crime. 

You’ve probably seen videos of organized retail crime in action; masked shoplifters stuffing bags in what looks like a free-for-all. Commonly stolen items include fragrances, clothing, jewelry, power tools, and copper wire. Common targets include stores like Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Kohls, Home Depot, and Lowes.

Organized retail crime harms both the community and the economy. Retailers lose merchandise. Employees can be put in dangerous situations. The costs of organized retail crime then trickle down to customers, who face rising costs. Businesses are at risk of closing if they are continuously losing inventory to ORC.  

The motivation behind organized retail crime often leads to more illegal activity, like the purchase of narcotics. This means that organized retail crime isn’t an isolated event, but part of a more significant threat to the community.

Fighting crime with the Flock Safety license plate reader camera

Redlands PD has successfully defended against some organized retail crime using cash trackers, especially in the case of robberies, which involve armed takeovers. Cell phone stores are common targets for these crimes. A robbery typically leads to the loss of 40-100 phones–which is significant when each phone costs around $1,000. Redlands PD deploys cash trackers in cash registers and safes to help find and apprehend robbery suspects. 

While the cash trackers help track the goods, a license plate reader camera can help track the suspects themselves. Knowing the suspect’s license plate is extremely effective in leading to arrests. 

Before learning about Flock Safety, Redlands PD knew they wanted to add license plate reader cameras to their toolkit of crime-tracking technologies. Specifically, they wanted to provide coverage of the South side of town to develop more successful leads. They often received descriptions of suspects from residents but not license plate numbers. A description simply isn’t as actionable as a license plate number.

Initially, the cost of cameras from other companies was too prohibitive. Redlands PD was also sensitive to privacy concerns expressed by different groups in the community.

Flock Safety license plate reader cameras piqued Deputy Chief Martinez’s interest after he learned that Flock Safety works with HOAs. If HOAs were successfully installing the cameras in residential areas, then Flock Safety was doing something right. On top of that, Flock Safety cameras are affordable and subscription-based, adding to their appeal.

After testing out the license plate reader camera with help from Flock Safety, Redlands PD purchased five cameras. Within the first couple of days, they could boast their first success story: the apprehension of a local burglar. Redlands PD was ready to go all in. But first, they initiated a dialogue with the community to address privacy concerns and create transparency. After holding a town hall about the Flock Safety cameras, they gained the community support they were hoping for, leading to the purchase of another 24 cameras.  

Deputy Chief Martinez encourages other departments to prioritize community awareness about crime-fighting technologies, especially ones that might be misunderstood. 

Success stories using the Flock Safety license plate reader cameras

For the Redlands PD, Flock Safety license plate reader cameras have provided a safe, reliable, and affordable solution to organized retail crime. Redlands PD has used 29 Flock Safety license plate reader cameras over three years to develop over 170 leads. An additional 35 cameras are now in the budget to help cover the retail-heavy northwest side of the city. 

Deputy Chief Martinez credits a big part of their success to strategic partnerships with loss prevention directors and property management groups. There is a greater chance of generating successful leads when businesses and law enforcement collaborate and use technology to reduce crime.

This is how the Redlands PD, working with business owners and other police departments in Southern California, was able to apprehend all members of a six-person crew that had stolen from multiple retail stores. Redlands PD first got involved when the group stole fragrances from a local Kohl’s, and Redlands PD was able to acquire a vehicle license plate number from a Flock Safety camera. The car, a silver Mercedes, had recently been sold and there was no information on the new owners. However, a couple of days later, an Alta was hit with the same vehicle–a piece of evidence captured by another Flock Safety camera. This allowed Redlands PD to connect different crimes to the same group.

A week after that, Ulta Beauty was hit in Perris, California. The crew took a cash tracker, which led to the apprehension of three of the suspects. When a Sephora was robbed soon after by the remaining three crew members, Redlands PD quickly noticed the tell-tale silver Mercedes from the Flock Safety camera footage. When the crew next showed up at an Alta in Jurupa, another cash tracker led the police to apprehend the remaining members of the crew. 

As Deputy Chief Martinez notes, technology empowers different organizations to collaborate in the defense of public safety. Other communities have seen similar success.

The benefits of reducing crime with technology are paying off in California. Deputy Chief Martinez reports that California is considering a bill to support an $85 million budget for the purchase of more technology to track organized retail crime. 

Technology allows law enforcement to increase investigative leads without over-extending resources. Officers can patrol a shopping center, but they can’t be there around the clock. Technology can. And that in turn keeps the entire community safer.

Collaboration really is key, as Deputy Chief Martinez emphasized. “I look forward to continuing fighting crime with the Flock team,” he said.

Flock Safety’s commitment to enhancing safety for the whole community

Chris Renee, Head of Commercial Sales & Strategy at Flock, agrees that both technology and collaboration are two important parts of supporting safety for the entire community. It’s that broader perspective on creating a safe environment for the whole community that is the heart of Flock Safety’s mission.

Flock Safety license plate reader cameras allow businesses to aid law enforcement by giving them evidence that is objective, reliable, and ethical. Flock Safety cameras offer concrete, actionable evidence, allowing law enforcement to avoid subjective data when connecting a crime to a suspect.

Flock Safety is committed to using information ethically and responsibly. Flock Safety only collects the objective, indiscriminate data needed to eliminate crime. Privacy rights are never violated and personally identifiable information is never collected. Data is never shared or sold. After 30 days, data is automatically deleted on a rolling basis.  

Flock Safety invests in both the safety of patrons and the ability of businesses to guard against property crimes. Flock Safety empowers communities to take action when there’s a risk of crime, while also collecting the right kind of evidence to help law enforcement generate successful leads. 

Flock Safety is a public safety operating system that helps communities and law enforcement in 5000+ cities work together to eliminate crime, protect privacy, and mitigate bias. We build devices that capture objective evidence and use machine learning to create and deliver unbiased investigative leads to law enforcement. Flock Safety serves 5000 cities in 45+ states and is helping solve hundreds of crimes every day.