Louisville approves nearly $200,000 to purchase new Flock cameras

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville leaders have approved nearly $200,000 to install new Flock cameras to help police officers solve more crimes.

The digital license plate reading cameras can read dozens of plates every minute, cross-reference the numbers with crime databases and alert law enforcement to stolen vehicles, wanted fugitives and more.

That's why the council approved the funding to install more of the cameras in the Louisville area, which currently has 136 in use throughout the city. Another 111 cameras will soon be installed, including 28 cameras that will be paid for with the $177,100 budgeted by Metro Council.

Current plans call for installing the cameras in two south Louisville districts. 14 will be installed in Louisville's 12th district, along with an additional 14 cameras planned for the city's 14th district.

"It was important to me to give (police) the tools they needed to do their job more effectively, especially with less officers," said Councilwoman Cindi Fowler, who represents the 14th District.

"It is technology that works, and that's what I want to invest our taxpayer dollars in," added District 12 Councilman Rick Blackwell.

Louisville Metro Police investigators are already getting good use out of the cameras this year, including 53 incidents where the cameras assisted with vehicle recoveries, and another 68 incidents where Flock is being actively used as a positive investigation tool.

In a typical 30-day period, LMPD investigators access the system roughly 16,000 times (about 534 searches per day). Along with those active searches, LMPD had roughly 1,900 Flock alerts for stolen vehicles or stolen plates within the network in the past 30 days alone.

That's good news for Louisville's residents.

"People are really tired," Fowler said. "They're worried about public safety. There's not enough officers and they want more public safety."

The approval comes less than a month after Louisville Metro Councilman Dan Seum Jr., R-13, sat before the Kentucky General Assembly’s Interim Joint Committee on Transportation to advocate for speed cameras in certain residential areas of Louisville that see frequent speeders.

In addition to the cameras already in use, officials are in the process of installing 111 more cameras, including the 28 which were approved by Metro Council this week.

It's not clear when installation will be complete.

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