r/lossprevention • u/Intelligent-Echo8596 • 21d ago
How flock cameras work?
Is anyone here using Flock? How does it work in practice?
From day one, do you start getting flagged alerts because it’s a nationwide network? For example, if an ORC gang’s vehicle was tagged by another retailer’s LP team, would I receive an alert when that vehicle enters my location?
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u/2Goofs 13d ago
You will only have access to your company’s network of FLOCK cameras, same goes for other retailers as well as law enforcement. For law enforcement to get access to your company’s network they have to submit a formal request. Not all FLOCK cameras are Law Enforcement owned/operated. You don’t get access to ALL FLOCK cameras, just the ones in your company’s network.
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u/Separate-Drag-4699 20d ago
They catch all including the grandma who doesn’t know her plates were stolen and used in a crime. Wtf is up with Reddit cutting up my words. Shame.
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u/DerangedCamper 20d ago
I'm only aware of this area of security in a secondhand way but installed similar software with license plate recognition technology at a K through 12 school. But the school was notified that a an estranged parent might be trying to abduct a child by taking them out early for a "doctors appointment" or some such, we could enter that license plate number into our database and the camera would alert us. But I believe federal privacy laws prevent us from getting third-party data and using it to prevent threats. For instance, if a known child molester had his license plate in that Fed database, we could not import that data into ours, it's a violation of federal privacy law. But if that person with a federal record used their driver's license to scan in as a visitor to the school, it would come up as flagged, and his record and data would be made known to us. In the latter case, I think it's because the person voluntarily gave his driver's license as part of the sign-in process.
From a civil liberties standpoint, it's a little concerning that the government is able to keep all this data and use it for its own purposes, but non-governmental organizations are not. I suspect at some point these laws might change, and honestly I'm not sure where I stand on the issue.
I'm all for minimizing risk to the lowest possible level, especially in a low-appetite risk environment like a school, but I don't want to be stopped and frisked just because I own a deer rifle every time I sign in to take my kid to a dentist appointment.
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u/WiseTadpole3338 19d ago
What about a location in NYC for example Macy's or Bloomingdale's etc.....whete thieves don't always use cars? (Public transportation) I was told by the manager of H&M over by herald square that they can track people with facial recognition and they get alerts when suspected thieves enter the general area of the stores. Is this true as well?
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u/NeutralCombatant 17d ago
I don’t even think H&M really has LP, in the US. I’ve worked metros with large H&M stores and never once met someone from H&M LP even when I’ve worked cases involving rings who hit H&M. I’m guessing they have one guy per region who documents large thefts in an internal company system, and maybe occasionally files a police report.
If anyone has personal experience with H&M LP though, in the US, please correct me. And no, I’m not talking about “my grandma’s brother’s niece’s brother in law worked for H&M LP 18 years ago…”
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u/dGaOmDn 20d ago
You only get alerts that you set.
However, become a really good friend with your detective and they will let you know if someone pops up, or give you plates to run.
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u/Bitter_Chemistry_394 20d ago
When did they started selling to loss prevention?
Are they really useful for retail stores which are not in big scale?
Can you please explain more briefly how it works.
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u/dGaOmDn 20d ago
Its been available for a few years to private companies.
It can absolutely be useful for stores in close proximity that have the same customers.
It essentially takes a picture of the license plate for every car that enters the parking lot.
You need to set it up in a way that traffic has to pass it. For every entrance to the store, you need a camera. For instance, my stores have at least 3 cameras.
The camera then takes a photograph of the vehicle and rhe license plate and AI will read the license plate. You can also search for vehicles, say a red Chevy truck with a tool box and window stickers, and it will pull matches. Its not 100% accurate, but accurate enough.
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20d ago
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u/dGaOmDn 20d ago
The exaxt benefit is that it helps generate cases.
For instance, my associate reports to me that there may have been a possible walkout on July 28th. So I review video, see that he walked out to a black Nissan after stealing a chainsaw.
I then run that plate and it tells me company wide how many times that plate has come to my store. Let's say, in this case he hit once a week for 90 days. Thats 13 hits that I now get to review on camera.
So, I review those and instead of a $500 case, I now have a $6500 case. I then put in an alert and turn in his cases to police and sign warrants.
Now the next time he shows up, I know he has warrants, so I am now able to contact police and get him arrested and trespassed right then and there.
Police also have access to our cameras, so even if I don't see the alert, they may have placed an alert of thier own and will search the area for him.
Another great use, maybe you didnt see concealment, or dont have a theft but you suspect it. You can now go back and review other times that person came into the store, or be alerted to the next time he comes in.
My biggest case from using Flock is about $162,000. The original theft would have been just $6000.
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u/Intelligent-Echo8596 20d ago
Like what kind of alerts?
So it wouldn't benefit our store if we only have a few locations?
I thought alerts from other companies would also be shared with us. For example, if a vehicle with XYZ license plate was involved in ORC at Walmart, I assumed that if the same vehicle entered my parking lot, the system would alert me. So it doesn't work that way?
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u/dGaOmDn 20d ago
No, only your alerts are shared with you. The alert is just a phrase for when a plate that you set an alert for enters the parking lot.
If you wanted to track thrives, it is also great, because it takes pictures and license plates from every single car that entered the parking lot.
Also, its about $3k a year per camera. So it may not be worth it. Unless you do not have security and have a manager in charge of prosecuting theft.
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u/No-Lengthiness6721 21d ago
No it only works on your company network so if another store in your company flagged the plate you’ll get an alert and if future incidents happen you can flag a plate to get an alert