Key Points
- The Lucedale Police Department has begun using automated license plate readers, joining other Mississippi agencies employing 24/7 surveillance cameras to alert police about vehicles of interest.
- Law enforcement officials, such as Stone County Sheriff Todd Stewart and Lucedale Police Chief Kellum Fairley, say the cameras help departments with limited staffing extend their coverage and locate both stolen vehicles and missing people.
- The camera systems use artificial intelligence to detect vehicle features beyond just license plates, allowing searches by vehicle make, model, or color as well as tags.
- Critics have raised concerns about accuracy and privacy, citing incidents like a 2024 case in Ohio where a misread license plate led to a police error and injury.
- Law enforcement can share the camera-collected data with other agencies, with Stewart noting some control over which groups have access to the shared information.
GEORGE COUNTY — The Lucedale Police Department plans to join a growing list of agencies using automated license plate readers, 24/7 surveillance cameras that can alert police when cars matching a certain description pass by.
The technology has become increasingly common in Mississippi, including in neighboring Stone County, where Sheriff Todd Stewart said the cameras have already helped deputies recover missing children and track stolen vehicles. Law enforcement officials describe the systems as “force multipliers,” particularly for departments with limited staffing.
About an hour after speaking with Stewart, deputies located a stolen vehicle from Hattiesburg. Since Forrest County — which also uses Flock cameras — entered the vehicle into the system, it was flagged for Stone County deputies.
The shared data includes license plate numbers and vehicle descriptions.
“It doesn’t even have to be a tag. It can be a vehicle make or model and a color, and it will feed you information every time the system hits those parameters,” Stewart said.
Expanding coverage for small departments
Chief Kellum Fairley of the Lucedale Police Department said the appeal for a small agency is simple — the cameras extend what officers can see.
“(Patrol officers) can only do things in the line of sight,” Fairley said. “Cameras are pretty much instant. So, anything that comes by that camera is going to instantly pick it up. Whereas a police officer, he’s going to only see it as far as what he can see with his eyes.”
He said the system can also help locate missing people.
“It’s not just looking for crime,” Fairley said. “We have people right here in George County that could have missing loved ones. And guess what? We can enter their name or their information, the tags and stuff, in this system. And if they come through the city of Lucedale… we now know that they were last seen in George County heading east, west, north or south.”
How cameras are used in investigations
In Stone County, Stewart said his office has used the cameras in multiple investigations.
“We’ve had several cases where we’ve been able to use it to locate loved ones that needed help,” Stewart said. “We’ve also used it to solve crimes. A lot of burglaries that go on in the county where if we get a vehicle description or a vehicle tag, we’re able to track crime. And our stolen vehicles enforcement has increased dramatically because not only is it stolen vehicles out of Stone County, its stolen vehicles throughout the state.”
Camera systems like those used in Stone County rely on algorithms and artificial intelligence to identify vehicle features. In a February 2025 press release, Flock Safety announced expanded AI-powered search capabilities.
“Instead of manually sifting through hundreds — if not thousands — of images, officers can now search for vehicles with unique characteristics, such as ‘blue SUV with a racing stripe’ or ‘white F-150 with a ladder in the back,’” the company said. “This intuitive search capability allows law enforcement to find critical vehicular evidence faster, streamlining the investigative process and improving response times.”
Concerns over errors and oversight
However, critics across the country have raised concerns about the technology’s accuracy and oversight.
“I’m not a fan of them,” said Lucedale resident Kasha Martin. “I just don’t think the government should be tracking people from their license plates. I don’t think it’s a good thing.”
Concerns about accuracy have surfaced elsewhere. In 2024, a man in Toledo, Ohio, was injured by a K-9 after a Flock camera falsely flagged his vehicle as stolen. The error stemmed from a misread license plate — confusing a “7” for a “2.”
“It can make mistakes, and it could be potentially fatal to someone who’s decided… to grab for her phone to call her husband, and (the cop) thought that she was pulling for a gun, that she was shot in front of her kid because technology made a mistake,” Martin said.
Critics also question how data collected by the cameras is shared. According to NPR, at least 30 cities have canceled their contracts with Flock Safety.
Stewart said access is limited to law enforcement, although agencies can share information.
“You can block things or certain groups if you need to, or allow, but all law enforcement agencies pretty much share the information,” he said.
But some residents say the benefits outweigh the risks.
“I feel like it would probably be a good idea for that kind of stuff, because we do have a lot of traffic that runs from Mobile, Pascagoula, all that stuff,” said Lucedale resident Autumn Eckhoff. “So, I think it is pretty good to be able to track people like that.”
Stewart said the system has helped his department respond more effectively.
“We’re able to connect with other users and agencies to solidify leads, which will allow us to recover stolen vehicles, recover loved ones that might be missing, arrest offenders and bring people home safe,” Stewart said.
In Lucedale, Chief Fairley says his department is trying to work out the final details before they install their cameras.
