Last year, we were approached by a company called Flock Safety regarding their License Plate Reader (LPR) systems for improving safety within our HOA. These systems are currently in use at a variety of other HOAs in North Texas and elsewhere, and have resulted in a reduction in illegal criminal activities within those HOAs. And earlier this year, we were contacted by the Grand Prairie Police Department (GPPD) via email regarding the Flock Safety LPR system.
In the interim, we did our due diligence and contacted various members of GPPD for more information about these LPRs and their ability to assist the Police in identifying miscreants who enter the property. We contacted Police Chief Scesney to get his take on these LPR’s and he responded that they have resulted in hundreds of arrests and suggested that we contact the Intel Supervisor, Sgt. Cox for an idea on how much activity we have on property.
We also spoke with a few individuals in the Command Staff to get their perception of the efficacy of the LPR system. Every person we contacted in GPPD commented on how the LPR systems have resulted in public safety improvements and more arrests of criminal suspects, including those with warrants, drug offenders, burglary suspects, etc.
At the last Board meeting on April 29th, a Flock Safety representative did a presentation to the Board, along with Sgt. Cox from GPPD, Intelligence supervisor. Sgt. Cox indicated he patrolled this area for a number of years and that he has a good understanding of where these LPR’s would be of the most benefit. We have 14 entrances and he suggested covering 7 of the main entrances.
Based on the information provided at the Board meeting, and its prior research, the Board voted to contract with Flock Safety, and ended up approving LPR system coverage at 7 of the main entrances. One thing that cemented the Board’s decision was that these LPR’s, which are solar powered and operating on cellular networking, would send pertinent information directly to GPPD and the patrol units on duty. Doing this will drastically reduce reaction times required to view info and then call PD, as it will be virtually instantaneous.
As a Board, we are committed to maintaining and supporting efforts to make our neighborhood safer, and this decision was based entirely on improving safety within the subdivision.