Sapulpa Police Chief Mike Reed is working to clear up misconceptions surrounding the city’s Flock camera system, a technology that has quietly become a key tool in local law enforcement since its rollout in late 2024.
In a recent interview with Sapulpa Times, Reed explained that the system—officially known as automated license plate readers—is designed to help officers identify vehicles tied to criminal activity, not to monitor everyday residents.
“Anytime a vehicle goes by a camera, it takes a picture of the rear of the vehicle and runs that tag through the national system,” Reed said.
Sapulpa currently operates six Flock cameras positioned along major entry points into the city. The cameras are intentionally aimed at inbound traffic, allowing officers to identify vehicles entering town that may be connected to crimes, missing persons cases or other alerts.
“We don’t have any cameras facing outbound traffic right now,” Reed said. “We wanted to know who is coming into our town.”
The system is tied to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), meaning alerts can be triggered for a wide range of situations, including stolen vehicles, missing persons, sex offenders or suspects tied to active investigations.
Despite concerns raised online, Reed emphasized that the cameras do not use facial recognition and cannot identify drivers or passengers.
“You can’t see who’s in the car,” he said. “There’s no facial recognition. It’s just a picture of the rear of the vehicle.”
Each time a vehicle passes a camera, the system captures three images: a general photo of the vehicle, a close-up of the license plate, and a map showing where the image was taken.
Massive traffic, limited focus
The volume of traffic captured by the cameras is significant.
According to Reed, more than 4.3 million vehicle passes have been recorded year-to-date across the six cameras. In just the past 30 days, more than 1.1 million vehicles passed through the system, representing over 359,000 unique vehicles.
Those numbers highlight a key point, Reed said: officers are not monitoring individual drivers.
“We don’t have the manpower or the desire to look at every vehicle,” he said. “We only focus on the alerts—the hits.”
Vehicles that do not trigger an alert are simply stored temporarily in the system and then automatically deleted.
“All the data is wiped out after 30 days,” Reed said.
How the system is used
Officers can also input information into the system when investigating a crime. This process, known as creating a “hot list,” allows law enforcement to search for specific vehicles based on license plate numbers, partial plates or even general descriptions.
However, Reed stressed that this is not done casually.
“Officers have to enter why they’re putting that information in, and it’s tied to a case number,” he said. “It’s all logged and audited.”
The system has already proven effective in Sapulpa.
Within two weeks of going live in December 2024, Flock cameras helped officers locate and arrest a murder suspect near Highway 97, just minutes after the vehicle entered town.
“We got that hit, and officers were able to stop the vehicle less than half a mile away,” Reed said.
Since then, the department has used the system to assist in numerous cases, tracking outcomes each time an alert leads to an arrest or investigative lead.
Addressing privacy concerns
Much of the public concern around Flock cameras centers on privacy and surveillance.
Reed pushed back on the idea that the system is being used to track residents’ movements.
“If you drive past one of our cameras, we’re not going to know where you’re going, and we’re not going to care,” he said.
He also addressed rumors that the department has access to private security systems, such as home doorbell cameras.
While larger cities like Tulsa operate real-time crime centers that can integrate with voluntary camera networks, Sapulpa does not have such a system.
“We don’t have that capability,” Reed said. “If we need footage, we still have to go door to door and ask for it.”
Legal and financial considerations
The use of license plate readers has also raised legal questions nationwide, particularly around potential violations of constitutional rights.
Reed noted that courts are still weighing those issues, but pointed to a recent federal ruling.
“A federal judge ruled earlier this year that the cameras do not violate the Constitution,” he said.
That case, out of Virginia, is currently one of the few legal decisions directly addressing the technology, though Reed said additional cases could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
The cameras were purchased using city funds, with an upfront cost of approximately $18,000 plus installation. The city now pays an annual fee of about $18,000 to maintain the system.
Despite budget challenges, Reed said the department would like to expand the program.
“We would love to have more cameras,” he said. “Just seeing the success we’ve had with the limited number we have.”
A focused tool
At its core, Reed said the system is designed with a narrow purpose: identifying criminal activity and improving public safety.
“We’re not following people around town,” he said. “We’re strictly responding to alerts—stolen vehicles, wanted persons, things like that.”
Reed also said after the camera stopped rolling that they’re not using Flock for tracking speed. For residents who are not involved in criminal activity, Reed said there is little reason for concern.
“We’re not going to know where you’re going, and we’re not going to care where you’re going, unless you’re a bad guy.”
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