Beaumont plans to expand its Flock camera network with a $1 million bond to boost public safety.
BEAUMONT, Texas — A proposed bond package in Beaumont includes a $1 million allocation to expand the city’s network of license plate readers, known as Flock cameras, in an effort to enhance public safety.
Bond committee members say safety concerns were a recurring theme in community feedback, prompting them to prioritize funding for 18 new Flock cameras that would support the Beaumont Police Department’s efforts to deter and solve crime in real time.
“It’s a flock of eyes up in the sky that are watching the streets for vehicle plates, for faces,” said bond committee member Jennifer Job. “These cameras essentially will be tied into this Real-Time Crime Center that is at the police station so that the police can… see them in real time, be able to act on the information that they get [and] solve crimes quicker.”
The city already uses dozens of Flock cameras, and police say the additional devices would further strengthen their capabilities.
“Our investigators rely on these license plate readers not only to do the follow-ups for violent crimes or crimes in general,” said Officer Deanna Wiltz with BPD. “But they also use it to exonerate people when it comes to certain crimes that are committed.”
Job emphasized the cameras’ flexibility and cost-efficiency. “These cameras are not permanently located. We can leverage them as many times in as many places as we want,” she said.
She also noted that the bond committee’s recommendations were shaped by direct input from citizens. “Safety along with infrastructure was one of those things that kept coming up,” Job said. “And so our goal in the entire bond proposal was to make sure that the voices that we had heard from our fellow citizens, fellow taxpayers, because none of us are politicians or city employees, were heard really, really clearly.”
Before going before voters, the bond package must first be approved by the Beaumont City Council to be placed on the November ballot.