According to research, 31% of Americans experienced package theft in 2017. Most prevalent around the holidays, package thieves are commonly known as “porch pirates.” While the term sounds light, police warn citizens not to take the name lightly.

The term “Porch Pirate” refers to thieves who steal packages that have been delivered and left on residence doorsteps,” said Marietta, Georgia Chief of Police Dan Flynn in a message to the city.

License plate recognition

The police spoke to a neighborhood that had an unfortunate experience with package theft recently. A vehicle entered the neighborhood and swiped a neighbor’s package from their front porch.

Their Flock Safety security camera caught the vehicle’s license plate, which they could hand straight to local police, all the details law enforcement needed to pursue the case.

Flock Safety’s motion-sensor technology

Flock Safety’s neighborhood security coverage gets results. Flock cameras leverage motion-sensor technology to capture vehicles driving up to 55 mph, night and day. To pursue a case, police need actionable evidence. This includes:

  • The timeframe of the incident
  • Vehicle details like the color and the build
  • Most importantly, the vehicle’s license plate

Flock Safety camera system can also identify and sort vehicles by color, time of day, physical attributes The neighborhood they spoke to had some of these details ready. They knew the time frame when the porch pirate struck and what the vehicle looked like. But they needed one more piece of evidence for police to pursue the case immediately: the license plate.

The Flock Safety camera system can also identify and sort vehicles by color, time of day, physical attributes, and more.

Setting the course for a safer neighborhood

Flock cameras provide the foundation for long-term neighborhood security. Where police were previously unable to solve porch pirate cases because of limited evidence, license plate reading security cameras provide the actionable evidence for police to solve a crime.

In case you missed it

Responsible AI Adoption Starts With Governance
Responsible AI Adoption Starts With Governance

The eagerness to adopt AI in physical security is increasing as teams want to implement technology solutions for faster, smarter operations. At the same time, the conversations sur...

How AI-Enabled Cameras Are Becoming Operational Sensors That Power Safety, Automation, And Business Intelligence
How AI-Enabled Cameras Are Becoming Operational Sensors That Power Safety, Automation, And Business Intelligence

The biggest return on investment from an AI-enabled camera might have nothing to do with security. Organizations are increasingly discovering that the same cameras installed to pro...

Solink's AI Agents Boost Efficiency Of Existing Infrastructure With Automation
Solink's AI Agents Boost Efficiency Of Existing Infrastructure With Automation

Deploying artificial intelligence (AI) tools should be seen as a business initiative rather than a technology initiative, says Martin Soukup, CTO of Solink, a cloud-based video sec...