LYNNWOOD—For almost 20 years, photo enforcement cameras have been used to improve traffic safety in Lynnwood; now, Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras will be added to the city’s arsenal to combat rising motor vehicle thefts.
At its Monday Business Meeting, the City Council approved the Lynnwood Police Department to enter into a two-year agreement with Flock Safety to lease 25 of its Falcon ALPR cameras to be placed at strategic—high traffic and/or high-crime—locations around the city.
With unanimous votes of 6-0 by councilmembers, the two-year pilot program costing some $171,153.50, will be paid from its Criminal Justice 105 Fund. A grant awarded June 2024 through the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority (WATPA) to fund ALPR cameras in the amount of $132,700 was also approved to be accepted resulting in a net cost to the city of $38,453.50 for this pilot program. The cameras should be operational no later than mid-February if not sooner and accompanied by a transparency portal similar to the one used by the Arlington Police Department.
The Flock Falcon ALPR cameras are solar and battery-powered mounted fixed aerial high-definition cameras that utilize a cellular network to scan and record license plates against a “hot list” of reported stolen or “flagged” vehicles 24 hours a day, seven days a week, matched in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) or state crime databases associated with with a missing person in an AMBER or Silver Alert.
The license plate scan produces what is called a Vehicle Fingerprint to capture a vehicle’s make, model, color, and plate number according to the company’s website.
Flock Safety cameras apply machine learning to the footage captured to classify vehicles by type such as vans, buses, sedans, SUV, etc. Lynnwood Police shared during the meeting that the cameras will aid in quickly searching Flock’s database during stolen motor vehicle cases.
According to research from the King County Prosecutors Office, video surveillance is 152 more cost-effective than human surveillance saving hundreds of hours canvassing and analyzing video surveillance by paid officers which will now be performed far more efficiently using the Flock Safety platform. After a positive vehicle is identified by the Flock Falcon camera, officers will receive automatic real-time alert via email and/or text of the plate, image of vehicle, and GPS location.
The Flock Falcon ALPR cameras do not have facial recognition technology, don’t track speed, nor aid in parking enforcement. The data collected from the cameras is automatically deleted after 30 days, Lynnwood Police said. These cameras are separate from the current photo enforcement cameras throughout the city of Lynnwood.
The photo enforcement cameras—also called automated traffic safety cameras—are operated by American Traffic Safety (ATS), an Arizona-based company, which takes photos of drivers who violate traffic laws, such as entering an intersection on a red light. The Flock Falcon Cameras are a separate system authorized by the Lynnwood City Council and operated by the Lynnwood Police Department with support from the Lynnwood Municipal Court.
A total of 34,849 citations were issued in Lynnwood by the automated traffic safety cameras at the 11 locations in 2023. Now that construction is complete on 196th Street, the number of citations should increase by at least 2,000 for 2024 as the camera at 44th Street is back up and running.
Besides the automated traffic safety and Flock Falcon ALPR cameras, Lynnwood also has live traffic cameras at 15 locations throughout the city. These cameras record all vehicle and pedestrian traffic at these 15 locations. Authorized city personnel monitor these cameras to conduct traffic operations and are used to support police investigations. The video is typically stored automatically for two weeks before being overwritten.
Flock Safety cameras are in use in more than 5,000 communities across the country, and the company works with over 3,000 police departments. Flock technology currently helps law enforcement solve about 10% of reported crime in the U.S. and communities using Flock Safety LPR have reported crime reductions of up to 70%, the Lynnwood Police reports on its website.
Other cities using ALPR cameras
Flock Safety cameras are used by over 70 law enforcement agencies in Washington state including Arlington, Everett, Maryville, Mill Creek, Lake Stevens, and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. The city of Mukilteo is expected to install its Flock Safety cameras within the next few weeks.
Arlington: Flock Safety ALPRs became operational in Arlington on July 5, 2023. The 12 months after installation, APD recovered 109 stolen vehicles, a 109% increase to the 12-month period prior to the cameras being installed. Within the first six months of usage, Arlington PD recovered over $300,000 in stolen property attributed to the Flock cameras.
Yakima: Since their installation in 2022, Flock Safety LPR cameras have assisted in 688 investigations to date. Officers have utilized the Flock cameras in 392 stolen vehicle recovery cases, 11 homicide cases, 78 hit-and-run cases, 56 assault cases, 52 eluding cases, 24 robbery cases, and 17 fraud cases.
ALPR Camera Privacy Concerns
Unlike the live traffic cameras around Lynnwood, Flock ALPRs will log and retain time and GPS location of vehicles. Using this information, it is possible to for one to deduce a vehicle’s traffic pattern presenting a privacy “invasion” concern. The government is not allowed to put a GPS on a vehicle without a warrant; yet as this technology becomes more widely used throughout Snohomish County and its data shared among law enforcement agencies, holistically, ALPRs can network to locate almost any vehicle in real-time.
Councilman Josh Binda voiced his concerns to Lynnwood Police Chief Cole Langdon during Monday’s meeting on the possibility that the ALPR cameras will be used to as a predatory tool for law enforcement to profile “certain demographics.”
Chief Langdon assured that the cameras only capture images of license plates. He also clarified to Councilwoman Derica Escamilla that the information from the scan provided to the law enforcement does not include the registered vehicle owner’s driving history.
“We recognize it is a powerful technology; this isn’t our first time having access to powerful technology and using it responsibly,” Chief Langdon told council members. “We have systems in place, and we have a fair policy… This technology will enhance our investigative ability and keep us safe and make sure we are holding people accountable, and we can seek justice for those who are victims.”
Prior to the vote, Councilman Patrick Decker emphasized to council that the Flock cameras may pose as a crime deterrent and there may be latent benefits such as its assistance in solving other crimes as those of the Yakima Police mentioned earlier in this article.
Councilman George Hurst moved to approve the WATPA grant in the amount of $132,700 for the ALPR cameras, which was seconded by Councilman Decker. The motion was approved unanimously 6-0. The motion, which was also unanimously approved by the council to enter into the agreement with Flock to lease the cameras for two years, was presented by Councilman Decker and seconded by Council President Nick Coelho.
Washington ranks #3 nationally per capita for 2023
The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs released its annual crime report on Tuesday, July 9, which found that, overall, crime rate across the state is down yet vehicle thefts increased 5.4% compared to the previous year.
Washington State has seen a 112% increase of vehicle thefts since 2019, the WASPC said. The report also shows more juveniles were involved in crimes. More than 20% of those arrested for vehicle theft were juveniles – an increase of 24% since 2022.
In reviewing the data for Lynnwood, since 2019 (pre-pandemic level) motor vehicle thefts have increased 68.5%—from 216 reported incidents (5.4 incidents per 1,000 residents) to 364 reported incidents (8.2 incidents per 1,000 residents) in 2024.
Police Chief Cole Langdon, during Monday’s meeting shared the impact to him when his vehicle was stolen. In November of 2023, Mukilteo Councilman Mike Dixon had his son’s car stolen right in front of their home. Both vehicles were eventually recovered but it presented a financial burden.
Fortunately, both Chief Langdon and Councilman Dixon could absorb the financial hit to their pocketbooks but a lot of the victims of car thefts are middle-to-low-income persons. These victims usually live paycheck-to-paycheck where a vehicle theft impacts their ability to travel to-and-from work risking their livelihood.
During the Hyundai and Kia TikTok challenge in 2022 and 2023, thousands of vehicles across the country were stolen for joyrides, usually dangerously, with the perpetrators filming themselves committing various crimes.
Vehicle thefts in Washington has contributed to dramatic increases in insurance premiums of certain vehicles and some car owners have been denied coverage by their insurance carrier.
Since auto thefts often result in a multiagency response—a car stolen in Lynnwood could be later found in Everett for example—and the vehicle is often found abandoned, it’s difficult for police agencies to track suspects to make arrests. However, with the use of Flock ALPR cameras becoming regional, motor vehicle theft arrests should rise then eventually decline as the technology becomes more effective as a preventative than responsive tool.
According to the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force (PSATTF), as of the end of November 2024, there have been 26,351 vehicles reported stolen statewide for last year—down 30% from 2023.
How to reduce your chances of being an auto theft victim
Below are suggestions by PSATTF to lessen your risk of becoming a victim:
- Remove or hide all valuables
- Lock your car
- Don’t leave keys or fobs inside
- Don’t leave your vehicle running unattended (exhaust in cold months makes these vehicles easy to spot)
- Use anti-theft devices (alarm, kill switch, steering wheel lock)
- Park in well-lit areas
It is encouraged that residents who live in apartment complexes to make it priority to invest in an anti-theft device. Steering wheel locks are strongly recommended for owners of Hyundai and Kia models that are vulnerable to theft as these are a visual deterrent to auto thieves.
PSATTF also suggests placing a GPS tracker, such as an Air Tag or Tile, in the vehicle so that it can be tracked if it is stolen.
Lastly, as the cold weather sets in, drivers should not leave their vehicles running unattended—it only takes seconds for a car thief to steal a running vehicle.
Author: Mario Lotmore
