Dunwoody police using Flock Safety cameras to fight impaired driving

Flock cameras being used to battle drunk driving

Atlanta-based Flock Safety cameras have been helping law enforcement agencies solve crimes for years. Now those same cameras are being used to combat impaired and dangerous drivers. The License Plate Reader cameras are being used to help notify first responders about car crashes sooner and provide information before officers get to the scene. Dunwoody Police have been testing some of the new features before they're rolled out to other agencies.

DUNWOODY, Ga. - Dunwoody police have been using flock cameras as crime-fighting tools for 6 years. Now they're using new features of the cameras that they hope will keep the roads safer.

What they're saying:

By combining the audio from gunshot detectors and the visuals of the cameras, first responders will be notified about car crashes faster.

"If we have the sound detection, our cameras will turn toward the accident and locate it.  We can respond quickly and also know what condition and the circumstances immediately without waiting for that 911 call which any delay could save a life," said Dunwoody Police Lt. Tim Fecht.

The agency is also using wrong-way detection to combat dangerous and impaired driving. It uses LPR cameras to determine when a driver is going the wrong way on a road.

"We have them pretty often in Dunwoody. A lot of its confusion based on our roadways, but also it's those DUI suspects that may not be aware of where they're driving, and it just alerts us to any unsafe acts," said Lt. Fecht.

"Typically, we see wrong way driving being attributed to impaired drivers, so this is really important to be able to alert first responders before that person endangers themselves or someone else and hopefully be able to go and save that individual," said Holly Beilin with Flock Safety.

Dunwoody Police are also using LPRs for speed analytics to determine if speed limits are being violated or if there's a problem area on the roads that need attention.

Why you should care:

When technology that uses artificial intelligence is involved in law enforcement or emergency response, some have questioned the accuracy of the information.

Dunwoody police say they always have the final say.

"It pulls the information in and tries to analyze it but requires human interaction to verify the information. We we also have to go through additional resources and actions to verify everything in there," said Lt. Fecht.

"This is augmenting what they can do and hopefully letting them know a little bit earlier," said Beilin.