Law Enforcement
South

Save time. Maximize resources: How Shelby County Sheriff’s Office uses Flock Safety

April 1, 2021

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Law Enforcement
South

Save time. Maximize resources: How Shelby County Sheriff’s Office uses Flock Safety

The Home of the Blues and the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll himself, Memphis, Tennessee is a city steeped in history, commerce, and of course, music. It is located at the west point of Shelby County, Tennessee’s largest and most populous county.

Shelby County sprawls with a wide range of industry, spurred by its location flanking the Mississippi River, through which trade and people flow. It is highly diverse and ranks amongst the ten counties in the state for highest median household income level. 

Unfortunately, Shelby County also has its fair share of crime. According to FBI statistics, Memphis has the highest violent crime rate of any city in Tennessee. 

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office employs over 2,000 sworn officers and civilians to fight crime across the county. At its helm is Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Jr., the first African-American to be elected to that position.

To augment its human resources, Shelby County employs a robust technology strategy to make officers more efficient and effective. Since 2018, that strategy has included license plate reader technology provided by Flock Safety. 

“Those cameras don’t sleep, they don’t need a break, they work 24 hours a day,” said Lieutenant David Ballard. Lt. Ballard champions Flock Safety camera technology in Shelby County.

“If we don’t have LPR technology, if we don’t have cameras out in the field, then my budget is going to be sorely affected, because to combat these [crime] numbers, I’m going to have to put more cars on the street, more boots on the ground,” explained Lt. Ballard.

After a pilot with 45 Flock Safety LPR cameras, Shelby County saw an immediate difference in their clearance rate. Now, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has access to hundreds of Flock Safety Falcon cameras — nearby law enforcement agencies and neighborhoods share footage — which amounts to 50-60 hot list alerts per day from the camera network in Memphis and beyond. 

The LPR technology solves everything from murder investigations to hit-and-runs, carjackings, auto burglaries, and property and neighborhood crime. 

“You can’t predict everything, but can we look at trends? Certainly. Can we see where we can apply resources to combat those trends? Absolutely,” said Lt. Ballard.

Group A crimes — that is, those that the police can control — went down 10% across the county in 2019, according to Lt. Ballard. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which spurred a rise in crime rates across the U.S., 2020 saw another 5% drop in Shelby County.

Lt. Ballard points out that for every crime solved, there’s another unknown number of crimes that may have been prevented. 

“What did we prevent? What didn’t happen the next week, month, year, now that this defender is out of their element? You can’t put a price tag on that.” 

License Plate Readers Built to Uphold Privacy and Objectivity

Ethically-designed license plate reader technology like Flock Safety also helps law enforcement ensure that they remain objective, that human error and bias is mitigated in the crime-fighting process as much as possible. Lt. Ballard acknowledges that there are always questions around the use of new technology, especially in such a sensitive area as law enforcement. For example, body cameras were at first “scary and different,” to his officers. 

“But now, they’re an asset to us, because they tell the story. We want the truth.”

Similarly, he was reassured by Flock Safety’s strong stance on personal privacy and transparency with citizens. He wants his constituents to understand that law enforcement is there to help the community, to do the work to protect them, and any technology they use must be built for the same purpose. 

“These cameras aren’t out there tracking your movement, they’re tracking bad guys. We don’t care that you’re coming home, we don’t care that you’re coming to work. We can’t look at that.”

“But, when you tell us that a white truck drove by your house and broke into your car, I’m going to look for white trucks. And I’m going to find that white truck, and I’m going to get your stuff back, if I can.”

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