CAMDEN, S.C. — Earlier this week, the Camden Police Department was able to arrest suspects in a stolen vehicle incident, thanks to their flock camera system.
“It captures data from vehicles traveling on the highway,” said Interim Chief of Police Darren Norris.
Norris says the flock system, which has been in the department since 2021, is a camera that scans the license plates of people driving through the city.
“Whenever there is an alert for a wanted vehicle, wanted person, anything associated with a crime, we get real-time alerts,” Norris said.
Norris says it captures the make, model, and license plate as people drive through the area, which has helped his department find stolen vehicles.
“Since the system was installed in 2021, in the first year there, there were 71 stolen vehicles reported, and 41 of those vehicles were actually recovered," Norris said. "We're still getting a high ratio of vehicles coming through, and so we're getting multiple contacts with these vehicles, recovering these individuals wanted for various crimes and, unfortunately, you know, a lot of them, they travel out of our jurisdiction and that information is then passed on to Highway Patrol or the Sheriff’s Office."
The police department says not all vehicles are pulled over unless they are stolen or possibly connected to a wanted person.