Destiny USA says plate- reading cameras are working

They are preventing, solving crime

SYRACUSE — Destiny USA in August 2023 installed license-plate reading (LPR) cameras to identify the make, model, color, and license plate of each vehicle entering and exiting every vehicle entrance at the complex. Six months later, Destiny USA contends the cameras have “proven to be a powerful tool in preventing and solving crime in the Syracuse community,” per a Feb. 1 announcement. The LPR cameras are part of a partnership with the Syracuse Police Department and Atlanta, Georgia–based Flock Safety. They’ve scanned nearly 400,000 vehicles per month since the program began in August 2023, Destiny USA said. “Thanks to the Flock cameras and our partnership with the Syracuse Police Department, we’re literally meeting a small group of trespassed individuals and repeat shoplifters at the door — before they enter the property, and that’s an absolute game-changer in our efforts to provide a safe environment to everyone that visits Destiny USA,” Stephen Congel, CEO of Pyramid Management Group, said in a news release. “What’s more, our cameras are also enhancing the ways law enforcement agencies like the Syracuse Police Department are able to prevent and solve crime, and that’s good news for our entire community.” Destiny USA provided a few examples of how the cameras have worked as a crime deterrent, including the prevention of shoplifting. The Flock Safety cameras have worked in “identifying and stopping shoplifters in their tracks.” The real-time alerts sent to law enforcement have enabled quick responses to the arrival of these individuals on property, leading to apprehensions and reduced theft. Destiny USA cited one example where after months of a “highly coordinated shoplifting campaign” by a group of individuals, license-plate data from one of the associated vehicles used was entered into the Flock Safety database. The next time the individuals involved arrived on-site at Destiny USA, both mall security and the Syracuse Police Department were immediately notified, and the suspects “immediately apprehended.” The program’s success has attracted attention from other state law-enforcement agencies, crime labs, and police departments, which are now tapping into the Syracuse Police Department’s Flock Safety data to assist in their own investigations., per the Destiny USA announcement. In January, 385 Flock searches on Destiny USA cameras have been conducted by the 11 New York State Crime Labs and county law enforcement. The collaborative approach and data sharing have created a “ripple effect of improved safety and security throughout the region.”