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Destiny USA, Syracuse police say Flock cameras are preventing, solving crime

Desitny USA on Thursday said the license-plate reading cameras that it installed back in August have been a “powerful tool” in preventing and solving crimes at the both the complex and the community. The cameras have helped Syracuse police and mall security in capturing shoplifting suspects and those who are prohibited from entering the property, per the announcement. (Photo credit: Destiny USA website)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Destiny USA on Thursday said its license-plate reading (LPR) cameras have “proven to be a powerful tool in preventing and solving crime in the Syracuse community.” The announcement comes six months into its partnership with the Syracuse Police Department and Atlanta, Georgia–based Flock Safety Flock Safety cameras have scanned nearly 400,000 vehicles […]

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Destiny USA on Thursday said its license-plate reading (LPR) cameras have “proven to be a powerful tool in preventing and solving crime in the Syracuse community.”

The announcement comes six months into its partnership with the Syracuse Police Department and Atlanta, Georgia–based Flock Safety

Flock Safety cameras have scanned nearly 400,000 vehicles per month since the program began in August 2023, Destiny USA said. They’ve provided law enforcement with real-time data to identify the make, model, color, and license plate of each vehicle entering and exiting every vehicle entrance at the complex.

“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.”

Eric Reinhardt