Flock Security Cameras

Summary: This option is being considered to solve issues with speeding, theft and mailboxes being opened. Several neighbors have their own security cameras and a few have even captured images of criminal activity. But without a license plate, it's really difficult for the police to do much about it. This option isn't cheap, but it could make a real difference in the security of our neighborhood and it's much less expensive than other options the Board and Leadership Team looked into like hiring a private security company.

Pros

Click on this link to read more of a complete summary of the benefits of the Flock Security Camera system. Includes a video showing how the product works.

These cameras can read vehicle license plates up to 75 MPH, day & night, up to 75 ft. away.

We are paying for a service rather than buying this equipment. So if there are any problems with the cameras, any software upgrades or any other issues, those are covered by our contract. At the end of two years, if we're not happy with how they work, our contract can be cancelled.

This is a cloud based system. So the Board and Leadership Team can access our private footage via desktop or mobile. It also means that if an individual device is tampered with or vandalized trying to destroy the evidence, there is no footage on the actual cameras.

Their system takes hundreds of hours of footage and turns them into key images the police need to track leads and make arrests.

These cameras have a discreet design specifically for neighborhoods.

Cons

Biggest con is the cost. These cameras cost $2000/year and if we got one for each of our three entrances, then we'd need to make a $6K/year commitment for two years to see if this helps. That's about how much we clear each year after our annual expenses. So this wouldn't necessarily bleed too much money out of our bank account, but it would keep us from continuing to grow our balance.

If after two years we decide to continue using these cameras, we might need to consider raising our dues slightly to be on the safe side long term with our finances.

Even with these cameras installed, you would still need an eyewitness to help narrow down the timeframe to look at the footage.

Not guaranteed that the police will act even if we give them a license plate.

There was also some debate at the meeting about whether we should include warning signs with the cameras. Some people were worried we'd give the impression that this is such a bad neighborhood that it needs cameras. But the Board and Leadership Team thinks these signs could be just as big of a deterrent as the cameras themselves.

So our happy medium proposal is that we don't have to use the standard warning signs we'd get from Flock. We could design our own signs and include the Ravenwood South logo to come up with a sign design that strikes the right balance of class and deterrence.

Click here to read the introductory Background Summary.

Click here to read a summary of the pros and cons of purchasing our own radar signs.

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