“Those first few hours after a crime is committed are the most important,” said Jay Taylor, a detective on the Jersey Village, TX police force. “The sooner we can get on it and see what was going on, the better chance we have of solving that crime.”

Detective Taylor joined the Jersey Village police department in 2011 after spending most of his life in Texas. The detective, who got into law enforcement to “help people who couldn’t help themselves,” has worked across several different divisions within the police force. Now he’s part of the Jersey Village Criminal Investigation Division (CID), working to solve crimes ranging from aggravated robberies and thefts to forgeries to property crimes.

Jersey Village, a suburb of northwest Houston, has a population of just under 8,000 people and is often rated as one of the best places to live in the Houston metro, with good public schools, a diverse population, and plenty of restaurants and nightlife. Detective Taylor echoes other residents when he calls it a “tight-knit community.”

However, while the Jersey Village crime rate is not high, the kinds of neighborhood crime that do occur here — theft, robbery, and property crime — often lack an eyewitness to provide an account of the crime.

That’s where Detective Taylor and the CID come in.

Neighborhood crime is hard to solve

“One of the challenges in solving property crime is just not having leads,” explained Jersey Village Police Chief Kirk Riggs. “Property crime will occur at night, most of them.”

“We really don’t have much information to go on.”

When Detective Taylor is put on a case, he begins to work all of the angles. He identifies and interviews any eyewitnesses and combs through any accessible video footage.

“We look at where the crime occurred — a shopping center or a parking lot or even a residential street. We’ll look at everything, from Ring cameras to videos from gas stations or parking lots; we’ll comb the scene for video evidence to support eyewitnesses.”

While that eyewitness testimony can be critical, it can also be subjective or incomplete. For an officer like Detective Taylor, who wants to solve crime in an equitable and objective manner, this is where access to safety technology like the Flock Safety license plate reader becomes so important. 

The Jersey Village police department has access to 54 Flock Safety Falcon license plate readers, located strategically around and throughout the town. 

“Flock Safety allows us to go back and look at the scene 24 or 72 hours before, matching up information to what we know already from that time,” said Detective Taylor.

For example, an eyewitness or a Ring doorbell camera may identify the make and color of a vehicle, or even a portion of the license plate. By utilizing Flock’s machine learning safety technology, Detective Taylor and his team can obtain the full license plate number.

“The sooner we can get on it, the better chance we have of solving that crime,” said Detective Taylor.

Catching a thief wanted across Texas

In the heart of Jersey Village sits a Spec’s Liquor Store, located in a shopping center frequented by local families. This Spec’s was the subject of several thefts, part of a neighborhood crime spree conducted by the same thief hitting liquor stores from Dallas to Houston. 

In total, this single thief had stolen $9,000 worth of merchandise across the state of Texas. 

By working the case, Detective Taylor identified the make and color of the thief’s vehicle. He was then able to use footage from a Flock Safety license plate reader located in the shopping center to pinpoint the vehicle, get the plate, and catch the perpetrator, clearing up the open case across several other Texas law enforcement bureaus. 

“Cases that we’ve solved here have started in San Antonio, in Dallas County,” said Chief Riggs. “When we have a lead here, Flock Safety lets us expand our ability to solve crime and collaborate with other agencies.”

“It’s going to change the way you do investigations,” said Detective Taylor. 

Flock Safety license plate readers are helping police agencies across the country access the right evidence, solve more crime, and keep their communities safe.