12/11/2024
The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office has been working on a county-wide, public safety project for months and it is finally coming to fruition. Six Flock Safety cameras, equipped with License Plate Recognition technology, are currently being installed throughout the southern portion of the county. The Sheriff’s Office applied for a grant to assist in the purchase of these cameras with the purpose of apprehending stolen vehicles and those responsible for these crimes. However, Flock Safety cameras are also a significant tool for recognizing vehicles associated with Amber and Silver alerts as well.
“Flock Safety is an all-in-one technology solution to eliminate crime and keep your community safe. Our intelligent platform combines the power of communities at scale – including cities, businesses, schools, and law enforcement agencies – to shape a safer future together. Our full-service, maintenance-free technology solution is trusted by more than 3,700 communities across the country to help solve and deter crime in the pursuit of safer communities for everyone,” states the company.
“I am enthused to bring one more tool into our county to assist our deputies in apprehending those involved in criminal activity and also assist in public safety issues such as Amber and Silver alerts,” states Sheriff Summer Scheyer. “Although I have received concerns from some county residents regarding privacy issues, I can assure everyone the footage obtained by these cameras will be used for the sole purpose of investigating criminal activity and specific public safety issues. All access to data is recorded and random audits will be conducted internally to ensure use of the camera footage is within the guidelines of Skamania County Sheriff’s Office policy and procedures.” Additionally, these devices do not include facial recognition abilities and do not capture personally identifiable information. Data collected by the cameras is stored by Flock and deleted every 30 days. This allows investigators to use collected footage solely for investigative purposes. Lastly, collected data is not shared with third parties.
The Flock Safety cameras will be fully functional in the beginning of 2025.