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STAFF REPORT
City of Lancaster
CC
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7/23/2024
TN
Date:July 23, 2024
To:Mayor Parris and City Council Members
From:Rodrick Armalin, Chief of Police
Subject:Renewal of Flock Safety Automated License Plate Reader Camera Subscription Recommendation:
It is recommended that the City Council approve the renewal of a subscription for 50 Automated License Plate Reader ("ALPR") cameras from Flock Safety ("Flock") in an amount $150,000. This project includes a one-year lease of the cameras at $3000 per camera and a onetime $350 per camera installation fee (should the city choose to install additional cameras). Additional years will be at a cost of $3000 per camera per year. Cost includes license to access application to view camera produced data, which will be stored in the cloud, all mounting equipment, installation, maintenance, upgrades, and no cost replacement of manufacturer faulty equipment. It is further requested that The Lancaster Chief of Police be granted authority to execute future extensions, not to exceed five years, at the same rate.
G.C. Section 84308: No
Fiscal Impact:
The City's Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget includes the funding of $150,000 for the proposed Public Safety Community Office from account 10130000.5710.
Background:
Flock Safety as the Sole Source vendor for the Flock Safety Camera. Flock Safety is the sole manufacturer and distributor of the Flock Safety Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) Camera. Flock Safety is also the sole provider of comprehensive monitoring, processing, and machine vision services that integrate with the Flock Safety Camera.
Flock Safety provides crime-fighting technology (cameras and software) under a service subscription model. Flock Safety's service is a flat annual fee that includes: ALPR camera 1 7
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hardware, hardware maintenance, ALPR software, software updates, unlimited users, 30 days unlimited data storage, LTE connectivity, solar panels, and mounting equipment. Flock Safety provides all supplies and equipment under standard operating procedures and complies with all government regulations and workplace safety guidelines. If the city chooses not to renew the agreement, Flock Safety will remove the existing cameras.
Flock Safety is a public safety operating system that helps communities and law enforcement in over one thousand cities nationwide work together to eliminate crime, protect privacy, and mitigate bias. Other local Southern California government agencies currently using Flock Systems include Alhambra, Azusa, Covina, El Monte, Glendale, Pomona, and West Covina to name a few. The Sheriff’s Department is also successfully utilizing Flock Safety in the contract cities of Calabasas, La Canada Flintridge, La Puente, Pico Rivera, Rosemead, and Walnut.
Flock cameras utilize motion capture to start and stop the photographs with machine learning and artificial intelligence, which allows Flock Safety to capture vehicle characteristics without the need for a reflective license plate. The cameras can capture and process 30,000 vehicles per day and capture two (2) lanes of traffic simultaneously with a single camera from a vertical mass powered by solar power. Flock Safety analyzes vehicle license plate, vehicle color, and vehicle make objects (roof rack, unique hub cap, etc.) based on image analytics (not car registration data), which also protects against stolen/removed license plates. The software transmits alerts for wanted plates with the capability of the plate state match and can set up alerts based on vehicle description without the need for a license plate.
The software makes actionable evidence available when needed that is easily searchable by vehicle type, make, model, color, timeframe, partial/full license plate, and object detection. This technology will aid the Sheriff’s Department to more accurately detect and stop the actual vehicle used in a crime, instead of similar looking vehicles. This not only can save law enforcement time in the investigation of criminal activity, but also help prevent the unnecessary stops and detentions of motorists who are driving vehicles which may look similar to wanted vehicles but are truly uninvolved in criminal activity. Flock Safety focuses on objective evidence (vehicles and license plates) by capturing car features. People's privacy is protected by not using facial recognition technology and not recording any personally identifiable information such as names, addresses, or phone numbers.
The city of Lancaster owns their data and Flock Safety does not sell the data to third parties. The camera footage is stored, secured, and encrypted in AWS Government Cloud and automatically deleted every thirty (30) days on a rolling basis. The cameras only take photos, and there is no live feed. No one monitors the system, and it is not used for surveillance purposes.
If a camera suffers from a manufacturer defect, Flock Safety will replace the camera at no additional fee.
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