The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Police Department (ULPD) uses Flock Safety automated license plate readers to capture video evidence of crime, and to locate stolen vehicles or vehicles in connection with a crime.
Sergeant Lance Frederick, a ULPD public information officer, said the camera scans the license plate of a vehicle, and if that vehicle was reported stolen, the platform would locate local law enforcement so the vehicle could be recovered.
Federick explained why ULPD decided to use Flock Safety technology. “The University and the Police Department are dedicated to providing a safe and welcoming experience to our students, visitors, faculty and staff. In order to do that, the Police Department has to keep up with technology and the growing UL and Lafayette community,” Frederick said.
Frederick also gave an example of how the cameras have worked on campus. He explained that a vehicle was stolen from a parking lot on campus and was located shortly after being reported missing by the owner using the Flock Safety platform. Frederick said over email, “It has been extremely helpful to our agency.”
When asked how safe they felt on campus, most students said they felt like their possessions and themselves were safe. Jaden Miller, a senior majoring in general studies, said he felt safe due to the constant police presence around campus. “The cops roll around 24-7, so I feel secure. Even at 3 o’clock in the morning, I see them riding so,” Miller said.
Similarly, Collin Guillory, a junior majoring in kinesiology, also said he felt safe due to the police presence. Despite the police surveillance, Guillory explained that he thought the security camera was a great idea because the police can’t be everywhere at once.
“Police is not gonna be here on every corner catching everybody so it’s good that they got cameras on every corner of the parking lot to see. They can catch every angle, scope out every scene, every car, every road that someone’s parked on […],” Guillory said.
Some students described their experience with vehicle crime on campus. Last November, Denim Day, a junior majoring in general studies, was alerted by police that his car was among a group of cars broken into overnight. Luckily, nothing was stolen from his car, but the experience made him more vigilant about locking his doors and parking in front of cameras.
“I seen they was trying to crack down on it a lot and it made me feel okay, but still after that […] every day I come in and I make sure… even if my car already locked, I’ll make sure it’s locked again, […] so I won’t have that again.”
Day said he thought the Flock Safety technology was a good way for ULPD to deter and solve crimes because it is a quicker way to identify vehicles that are involved. “I like it. I just hope that nobody really gets into this situation to where they have to […] use it,” Day said.
Holden Brown, a sophomore majoring in nursing, almost had his hubcap stolen but did not report it to ULPD. Although Brown already feels safe, he said the Flock Safety technology does make him feel safer. “Because it’s a better chance of them getting caught and not doing it again, so I think so,” Brown said.
Flock Safety cameras only detect license plates and vehicles, not faces, people, gender or race. ULPD began operating 50 automated license plate readers in April 2024. They store the data collected from the cameras for 30 days. According to the Flock Safety transparency portal, ULPD has detected 211,105 vehicles in the last 30 days. The Lafayette Police Department also uses Flock Safety. There have been 651,517 vehicles detected in the last 30 days.
According to the FBI, property crimes in Lafayette increased from 2021 to 2023. In 2021, there were 4,534 crimes reported, and in 2023, there were 5,586. The crimes included in property crimes were arson, burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.
In 2023, the rate of burglary in Lafayette was 136 people per 100,000 people.
It was higher than the state average, 37 people per 100,000 people. For more information about crime on campus, visit police.louisiana.edu and view the daily crime and fire log.