BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY, Ind. — The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to see results with its Flock Camera system.
The department said deputies were alerted to a stolen vehicle entering Bartholomew County Sunday morning. The alert came from the Flock Camera system.
Deputies were able to locate the vehicle in the 3000 block of South U.S. 31, where the department said they found drugs and drug-related paraphernalia inside. They arrested the driver, identified as 27-year-old Skyler Maggard, and took him to the Bartholomew County Jail on preliminary charges of theft of a motor vehicle and possession of a controlled substance. He has since been released.
“The Flock Camera system has, so far, been very successful in Bartholomew County,” said Bartholomew County Sheriff Matthew Myers.
Following his attendance at the National Sheriff’s Conference and the Indiana Sheriff’s Conference, Sheriff Myers said that the Flock Camera system was a huge topic of discussion by many sheriffs and its use is being considered along our southern borders.
This is the second time in a month that the Flock camera system has alerted law enforcement in Bartholomew County to a stolen vehicle.
The sheriff’s department started testing the Flock Camera system in mid-2021. The system takes a photograph of any vehicle entering Bartholomew County on U.S. 31 near I-65 and uploads it to cloud storage for analysis.
If the algorithm determines the vehicle has been reported stolen or flagged for involvement in a crime or missing persons case, the system will alert the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
“When a vehicle is stolen or contains stolen items, law enforcement is notified by the system and we are able to get these items off our streets,” said Sheriff Myers. “This was a very smart and beneficial purchase by the County.”
Other agencies, including the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Indiana State Police, Greenwood Police Department and several agencies in Hancock County, are already using the system.
