Town Manager Roger Hernstadt is hopeful that several security cameras will be installed around town in time for this upcoming season. On Monday the Fort Myers Beach town council heard a presentation from Flock Safety representative Todd Troutman.
Last month the town council approved $25,000 for security camera’s in their 2021-2022 fiscal budget which began October 1st. The cost of the cameras from Flock Safety is $2,500 per year per camera. That cost is based on Flock’s subscription model. The company maintains the cameras and they upgrade them, at no additional cost, if new technology comes out to improve the system.
Recordings from the cameras are kept for 30 days before they are deleted. All data is stored with AES256 encryption on the cloud. Flock’s cloud provider is Amazon Web Services. Law enforcement agencies, like the Lee County Sheriff’s Department, would have access to the videos by working with Flock.
Flock Safety started by installing cameras for HOA’s. In fact you can watch THIS VIDEO of an HOA President in Houston who says the 22 cameras they had installed helped solve crimes and apprehend criminals in his community.
In 2019 Flock started working with law enforcement agencies around the country. The cameras are especially good at recording license plates, according to Troutman.
Flock now has cameras installed in over 1,200 cities across the United States. Troutman said there were already 40 agencies using his cameras in the state of Florida including the Lee County Sheriff’s department.
Flock also has what it calls a Safe List feature which allows neighborhood residents to register their license plate number and opt to be eliminated from captured footage. This way, police can easily separate residents from non-residents and allow residents with privacy concerns to opt out of the system altogether.
The cameras are solar powered and could be put on existing poles or Flock could install 14 foot poles that go two feet into the ground.
The exact number of cameras and where they would be located was not discussed on Monday. Another company called Greenwire will make a presentation to the council at its next meeting before a final decision is made.
Flock recently received a 4th round of VC funding. This latest round was for $150 million. In all Flock has raised over $230 million in venture capital from Andreessen Horowitz, Matrix Partners, Initialized Capital, Axon, Bedrock Capital, Matrix Partners, Founders Fund, and Y-Combinator.
The company was launched by technology entrepreneur Garrett Langley (pictured left) after he experienced a property crime in his Atlanta neighborhood with little evidence to track down suspects.
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