JACKSONVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — Officers with the Jacksonville Police Department found two 17-year-olds who had been missing out of Kansas late last week.
In a news release, Chief Doug Thompson said the department received an alert from FLOCK Safety on Friday about the missing teenagers.
“When officers receive an alert they receive a still shot of the overall view of the vehicle and a close up of the license plate. This allows the officers to verify the plate as well as the vehicle
description to determine if it is a false alert or an actual alert,” Thompson explained.
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He said this particular alert came from the FLOCK cameras in the 1200 block of W. Morton. After the department got the alert, they worked to verify the information while responding that way. They quickly verified the alert was a valid National Crime Information Center (NCIC) hit through Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS). Thompson said the hit indicated the two juveniles were possibly in that vehicle.
Officers found the vehicle, and two teenagers who matched the description provided on NCIC. The two were taken to the Jacksonville Police Department, their families were notified, and they were later released to their family, according to Thompson.
There were no adults inside the vehicle, Thompson confirmed with WCIA. He also shared that one juvenile had been missing from Basehor, while the other was missing from Edwardsville. The cities are less than 20 minutes apart.
This comes after FLOCK cameras are facing increasing controversy nationwide. CBS News reported more than 40 law enforcement officers across the United States were accused of improperly using Flock’s network — and in some instances, they were accused of allegedly stalking women. In Illinois, for example, two Joliet Police officers were placed on paid administrative leave for alleged misuse of Flock Safety Technology.
In response to the backlash, FLOCK Safety said changes are being implemented. This includes reducing the default ALPR retention period from 30 days to seven days and adding a system that detects abnormal activity and flags it for Administrator review. You can read more information about the changes and upgrades here.
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