With an eye toward increasing public safety in Leitchfield, the city is purchasing the Flock camera system.
The Flock system is a series of surveillance cameras that will be installed in seven locations in the city of Leitchfield. The Leitchfield Flock cameras will be connected to thousands of other Flock camera systems installed around the U.S.
The technology, according to Elizabethtown Police Chief Jeremy Thompson, a 26-year law enforcement veteran, is a key piece of his department’s investigative arsenal.
“Of all the years I’ve been doing this, I can’t think of a better piece of technology, a more game-changing piece of technology that what Flock has done for law enforcement,” Thompson told The News-Enterprise in a November 2023 interview, found here (paywall). “It gives us actionable intelligence in real time on what’s going on in our city when it comes to criminal behavior.”
Elizabethtown had 20 Flock cameras installed in February. Since that time, the surveillance system has aided in solving several crimes, including quickly capturing a shooting suspect and locating a stolen vehicle with a seven-month-old baby inside.
- In the shooting incident, Flock cameras enabled police to identify the suspect after he drove by a camera while leaving the shooting scene. He was caught 12 hours later.
- In September, a baby was inside a vehicle that was stolen. Authorities found the vehicle with the baby inside within an hour of the crime courtesy of the city’s Flock system cameras.
“It’s a safety thing for the community; it makes our community safer. And that’s what it’s all about for me,” Mayor Harold Miller told K105. “It’s like adding two officers to the force. (The cameras) pick up details (e.g. bumper sticker, license plate number, minor damage on a vehicle, etc.) that other surveillance cameras don’t.”
Miller also noted that the Flock system recently helped locate a Leitchfield woman who had been reported missing by family members who live in Alabama, as the camera system installed in a central Alabama town led law enforcement to the woman.
According to the Flock website, the surveillance system has been installed in between 3,000 and 4,000 cities in the U.S. Flock cameras are connected, and once data related to a suspect or vehicle is entered into the system, one of the tens-of-thousands of Flock cameras will “hit on” the vehicle or person if they come into view of a camera anywhere in the country.
The system can also be used for Amber and Golden Alerts.
The locations the seven cameras will be placed within the city has not been determined, but Miller said the corridors leading into/out of Leitchfield — Mill Street, West White Oak Street, North Main Street, and South Main Street — will likely have cameras installed.
The cost of the system is $39,000 installed, with a $15,000 yearly maintenance fee. The city will sign only a one-year renewable contract, as is standard with Flock, according to Miller.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
