Youngtown--Committed to Public Safety
The Town of Youngtown has inked a deal with Flock Safety to deploy a state-of-the-art camera system which will greatly enhance Law Enforcement as provided by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). This system is currently in use in over 1,000 municipalities and brings together communities and law enforcement to help minimize and solve crime while protecting privacy, and mitigating bias. Youngtown will be installing some 3 dozen Flock Safety cameras throughout the community. These devices are designed to capture objective evidence through the use of machine learning in order to create and deliver unbiased investigative leads to law enforcement and have been shown to reduce crime by up to 70%.
Youngtown has long been dedicated to community engagement and has long sought out high-tech and affordable tools to help solve and reduce crime in the Town. Youngtown encourages local neighborhoods, communities and businesses to consider investing in this technology to help make the Northwest Valley a safer and more secure place to live.
Flock Safety cameras leverage Vehicle FingerprintTM technology, which identifies the details of all cars as they pass by. That includes the make, vehicle type, color, license plate (full, partial, or missing), license plate issuing state, and any unique features such as roof racks, trailer hitches, tinted windows, etc. Flock Safety cameras are not used for facial recognition, traffic enforcement or the issuance of citations for broken tail lights or unpaid fines. The data is not sold or shared with 3rd parties or entities like ICE or repossession companies. The footage is securely stored in the cloud and is automatically deleted every 30 days, on a rolling basis.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies will be able to use the system for both proactive and reactive crime fighting. If they receive a hotlist alert, it could be for a stolen car or wanted person listed in a state or national database such as the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). While MCSO Deputies will use the system to investigate crime, the use of sound internal procedures will assure that every search is accompanied by a valid search reason and that each hotlist alert is verified and confirmed and that every search is done by authorized users with systems in place for future audits.
The Flock Safety camera system will be also be useful for Amber and Silver alerts (Flock Safety cameras have already been responsible for solving several such cases in cities and towns across the country). These cameras have also helped law enforcement recover millions of dollars in stolen vehicles and property.
“Youngtown has always been committed to keeping residents safe and secure, said Mayor Michael LeVault. My ‘prime directive’, as your Mayor, is to implement the most effective public safety policies, procedures and technologies which are available and affordable…”
These cameras are also being used by neighborhoods and police agencies in other Arizona cities like Tucson, Yuma, and the Greater Phoenix area. Today, Flock Safety cameras provide evidence for more than 500 police agencies and have solved thousands of crimes across the country.
“At Flock Safety, we believe in objective, ethical policing,” said Garrett Langley, CEO of Flock Safety. “We have the privilege of working with law enforcement agencies and neighborhoods across the country who believe that the path to a safe community is forged through strong bonds between police departments and the citizens they pledge to protect. We commit to building ethically-designed and unbiased technology to help law enforcement and private citizens eliminate crime and we are happy to do so with a community-focused town like Youngtown.”
Mayor LeVault
Link to the
Memorandum of Understanding between FLOCK and Maricopa County