HOA security impacts every individual in a community. With the right security systems in place, HOA boards can augment the systems residents are already using in their homes and reduce crime.
For homeowners, a stolen package, car break-in, or a broken window can quickly make everyone feel unsafe in your neighborhood.
A broken gate or blurry CCTV camera footage gives an easy advantage to a suspect on the run.
You can improve home security with cameras, an alarm system, or a doorbell camera, to try to gather some evidence in case something happens. Doorbell cameras can help see the incident in real-time — whether it’s package theft or a suspicious person on your porch.
However, these systems may not provide enough evidence for the police. An image of a person, with no additional identifiers, is usually not enough of a lead to locate the actual perpetrator.
Individual home security can’t provide community-wide monitoring.
That’s where associations have the opportunity to step in and implement proactive HOA security systems that help prevent crime as well as ensure residents get the most out of their home security.
License plate reader cameras use cutting-edge technology to capture license plate details and other identifying information about vehicles used by suspects of crimes. These systems provide law enforcement with unbiased, actionable evidence to investigate crimes and make your neighborhood safer.
Doorbell cameras can be a useful component of HOA security. With the risk of porch pirates, snatching packages from house to house in different neighborhoods, a doorbell camera can help capture an image of thieves as they approach your front door. The video can help law enforcement capture a timestamp of the incident.
However, these tools may not always provide sufficient evidence for a detective to investigate the suspect who committed a crime. While a doorbell camera can be a good add-on to your security system, because thieves often mask their identity or avoid these cameras, they may be able to avoid their image being captured altogether.
Additionally, even if a person’s face is captured, they still may not be identifiable. If the person is not known to the homeowner or law enforcement, a picture alone is not an actionable piece of evidence that can be used to locate a suspect.
Other home security devices such as outdoor motion-activated lighting and remote door locks can help prevent crimes from occurring, and alarm systems can alert law enforcement when triggered, but these also don’t provide the evidence police need when a crime has already been committed.
When it comes to building a holistic approach to HOA security, license plate reader cameras help fill that evidence gap to allow officers to effectively do their jobs.
The good news is that a neighborhood can augment the security that doorbell cameras, entrance gates, and other security solutions provide — through Flock Safety.
Whether it’s vandalism, theft, kidnapping, or other suspicious activity, Flock Safety’s technology quickly and objectively identifies a suspect’s vehicle. The Flock Safety system can fill in the gaps between other solutions.
Let's say a crime happens in your neighborhood. A doorbell camera can provide the timestamp for an HOA Board Member or local police officer to look through Flock Safety footage and find the likely suspect vehicle.
Then, Flock's unique Vehicle Fingerprint™ technology categorizes the physical descriptions of each vehicle. The HOA or law enforcement can filter their search with a timeframe, returning vehicle details and a license plate number to further the investigation. Flock systems don’t require law enforcement to sift through hours of CCTV footage to find the evidence they need, allowing them to act immediately.
The cost of installing and maintaining gates and CCTV cameras, as well as paying the salaries of security personnel, can quickly add up. Neighborhoods want to ensure they’re getting the most out of their budget and investing in systems that can measurably reduce crime. Flock Safety license plate readers are both cost-effective and efficient at capturing critical evidence for identifying suspects’ vehicles.
One Flock Safety community in Memphis finds peace of mind that Flock can automatically alert local law enforcement.
“If a criminal comes in that’s in a stolen car, the Flock system will actually contact the local Collierville Police Department and they can handle anything from there,” said Larry Hubbard, an HOA Board member in that community.
With Flock Safety's subscription service model, neighborhoods always have the latest software and pay no additional costs beyond installation. There are no electric or Wifi costs, as the cameras are solar+battery powered, and connectivity requires little infrastructure. Data is fully owned by the neighborhood and is stored on Flock’s servers for only 30 days, protected at the highest encryption levels. If they choose, residents can opt-out of being recorded altogether.
Want to learn more about how Flock Safety license plate reader cameras can improve HOA security in your community? Book a free demo today.
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.