Flint Police Will Be Watching Thanks To 37 New Cameras In The City

The Flint Police Department will have more eyes on the streets thanks to 37 new cameras being put up all over the city.

These are not your normal run-of-the-mill cameras though, they are loaded with crime-stopping technology. They are called Flock Cameras and they are designed specifically to help police departments.

Flint will be adding the 37 new cameras to the cameras that were put up in May of this year. The main use of these cameras is to identify vehicles and their license plates, but they are capable of more.

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Flint Police Chief Terrance Green talked to ABC12 about what the cameras will be used for, and how they will expand the range of their uses once they are up.

The cameras capture license plates and vehicle characteristics-- not people or faces, those images are sent to police in real-time so they can act immediately. We're integrating that shot spotter technology in our high crime areas where we get the most complaints of shots being fired.

After these new cameras are installed there will be 62 cameras around the city dedicated to fighting crime.

There are obviously concerns about privacy, but Green has stated that the cameras do not use any facial recognition tech. They are strictly used as vehicle identifiers, along with the new shot spotter features that are being tested.

Flint has been in the middle of a rise in crime happening all around the city. The pandemic has put extra strain on the police department, so the cameras will help extend the reach without extending an already limited staff.