Lexington to spend $1.6 million for 100 license plate cameras. More could come

Beth Musgrave
·2 min read
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Flock license plate cameras will remain on Lexington city streets for at least five more years.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted 13 to 1 Thursday to approve a $1.6 million, five-year contract with Flock for 100 license plate cameras.

There could be more license plate cameras in coming years.

Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton has asked for an additional $75,000 for 25 more cameras in her proposed $538 million budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. If approved by the council, that would bring the total number of Flock cameras in the city to 125.

Councilwoman Tayna Fogle was the only council member to vote against the contract.

Flock license plate reader cameras take still images of license plates and then feed those license plates into various databases. The Lexington Police Department has been using the cameras since March 2022 as part of a pilot program.

The contract is single source, meaning Flock was the only provider. There were no other bids for the license plate reader cameras. The contract is $305,404 for the first year and $317,400 for each of the next four years for a total of more than $1.6 million.

Lexington Police Department has 100 Flock license plate reader cameras throughout Lexington. Here’s the locations of those cameras as of April 2023.
Lexington Police Department has 100 Flock license plate reader cameras throughout Lexington. Here’s the locations of those cameras as of April 2023.

Police: Lexington license plate readers help with crime

Police say the cameras have been instrumental in helping them solve crimes, particularly property crimes.

According to Lexington police data, since March 2022 Flock cameras have assisted police with recovering 264 stolen vehicles, helped find 21 missing persons and assisted in the seizure of 68 firearms. Police say 433 people have been arrested as a result of a tip from the license plate reader cameras. Since the first license plate reader was installed in March 2022 until the end of November 2022, the average number of days to recover a stolen vehicle dropped to 5.6 days.

That’s roughly half the time it took police to recover a stolen vehicle in 2020 and 2021 without the cameras.

Still, there have been questions about the cameras and how they are used. Police say there have been seven internal audits of the cameras since March 2022.

Some have asked for an external audit — from outside the department — to ensure the cameras are not been used improperly.

Fogle, the sole council member to vote against the contract, has previously asked for an external audit.