Here’s Where License Plate Scanners Are Located In St. Louis County

Have you heard about Flock cameras in the news lately? These automatic license plate readers (ALPRS) are strategically placed in areas around the Northland by authorities to prevent, detect, and solve crimes.

They are being installed across the country, and we have quite a few locally in the Northland. The St. Louis County Sheriff's office says they are proven to solve crimes and keep the public safer.

What Are Flock Cameras?

When I first saw one of these on the side of the road, I wasn't sure what it was. I thought it might be something for MNDOT to monitor vehicle traffic, or solar panels to power something underground.

Instead, these cameras record license plates and automatically, I can see how they would be helpful, but at the same time, I can see how some people think they go too far.

What do flock cameras detect?

The APLRs detect and record license plates and vehicles. They can identify the type of vehicle and color. The data is then compared to a "hot list" to catch wanted criminals. The data goes to a private database that is cleared out after 30 days, according to the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office policy.

What do flock cameras not detect?

They don't use facial recognition. They claim that they cannot identify people, gender, or race. The data is only for the St. Louis County Sheriff's office, and they do not sell the information to any 3rd parties.

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Who else receives the Flock camera data?

The data is, however, shared with other police department networks across the state. The data is also used for the Amber Alert Hotlist and the BCA.

Over 117,000 vehicles were detected in the last 30 days.

The Sheriff's office website has recorded over 117,000 vehicles in the last 30 days, with over 1,000 vehicles registering on the hot list. There were 117 searches done, and those include criminal activity, traffic pursuits,  suspected burglary vehicles, missing persons, and outstanding warrants, among others. You can access the search data online.