In October of 2023, the Marshalltown City Council approved an agreement with Flock Safety for the implementation of a public safety camera program to be utilized by the Marshalltown Police Department.
Since 2017, the city has had a limited public safety camera program. This program was initially funded by the Marshall County Crime Stoppers organization. Crime Stoppers conducted fundraising efforts that subsequently led to public safety camera sites being located in Marshalltown and in rural Marshall County. In Marshalltown, the camera sites are:
- Center & Anson
- 3rd Avenue & Anson
- Parking lot behind Center Street Station bar
Although the 2017 program has been very limited, public safety cameras have assisted law enforcement in solving criminal offenses.
In 2022, the Marshalltown City Council designated $150,000.00 in local option sales tax funds to increase the number of public safety cameras in the system. The 2017 public safety cameras were installed and maintained by RACOM. When the Marshalltown Police Department began research on expanding the public safety camera program, it was learned that much of the current equipment would need upgraded.
For over a year, the police department worked with a committee to review the public safety camera needs in our community and to engage with potential vendors for this program. While conducting research, the police department learned that many Iowa agencies are utilizing License Plate Reader (LPR) technology. LPR technology is a camera system that is designed to capture vehicle movement throughout the city. The cameras have technology that can read license plates and identify vehicles based on characteristics. The system provides real-time alerts regarding wanted persons, stolen vehicles or vehicles suspected of being used in a crime.
Flock Safety, based out of Atlanta, Georgia, is a company that provides LPR technology to public and private entities throughout the country. Flock is currently being utilized by 13 Iowa law enforcement agencies. These agencies are West Des Moines PD, University of Iowa PD, Council Bluffs PD, Altoona PD, Clive PD, Ankeny PD, Urbandale PD, Waukee PD, Glenwood PD, Camanche PD, Clinton PD, Polk County Conservation, and Carter Lake PD. There are many additional commercial and private companies using Flock in Iowa.
The Marshalltown Police Department worked with Flock Safety to develop a deployment strategy for the city of Marshalltown. The deployment strategy is a two-part plan. The first part is to cover all main entry and exit points in the city. This will allow the police department to identify vehicles associated with criminal activity as vehicles enter or exit Marshalltown. The second part of the strategy is to cover main thoroughfares throughout the city. The emphasis being to cover the main roadways criminals would travel to get from north to south, east to west, and vice versa.
There are several benefits to joining the Flock network. Flock cameras are linked to state and federal law enforcement databases that provide real-time alerts to law enforcement officers. Alerts will be sent instantaneously for stolen vehicles, stolen license plates, wanted people, amber alerts, and silver alerts. The police department can also create custom “hot-lists” to add alerts for vehicles associated with criminal activity. In addition to real-time alerts, the police department will have the ability to search Flock records to identify vehicles traveling to or from a crime. The police department will have the ability to partner with other Flock agencies or users to receive local hot-list alerts from cameras in the network. This creates an opportunity to partner with Marshalltown businesses who are interested in installing their own Flock cameras.
These cameras are not traffic enforcement tools and do not issue citations for infractions. These cameras are not monitored by a person in real-time. Alerts are generated through a computer program after specific information is entered into secure law enforcement databases. These cameras do record video data that can be searched by law enforcement to assist with a criminal investigation. Flock takes proactive steps to reduce privacy concerns created by the data collection. All data collected by the Flock system is the sole property of the Marshalltown Police Department. Flock will not share or use data collected from Flock cameras without the express consent of the Marshalltown Police Department. All Flock data has a 30-day retention period. After 30 days, all unused data is permanently deleted. The Flock system has a full audit-trail for any system inquiries. System audits will be regularly conducted by the Marshalltown Police Department to ensure compliance with department policies. Data retrieved from Flock cameras is stored securely in AWS Cloud with end-to-end encryption of all data.
The Flock system has proven to be an effective tool for law enforcement agencies in Iowa and across the country. When conducting research on Flock, the police department has communicated with other agencies utilizing the Flock system. The feedback received from those agencies has been overwhelmingly positive. Agencies, including Altoona PD and Waukee PD, provided information about their Flock system. There were many examples of success stories from the Flock system.
Using technology improves law enforcement services and increases public safety for the community. The Flock system will act as a force multiplier for the police department and will aid in reducing and solving crime.
During the week of February 26, 2024, Flock Safety began installation of a thirty-two-camera system in Marshalltown. Police department staff has received training regarding the use of this public safety camera system. Some of the cameras are operational. Parts of the system are still being brought on-line. In less than one week, the police department located and arrested one wanted fugitive after receiving alerts from the Flock Safety system. The department also located a suspect vehicle involved in a hit and run crash utilizing the Flock Safety system.
For more information, please contact Police Chief Michael Tupper by calling 641.754.5771 or via email at mtupper@marshalltown-ia.gov.
