The Parsons Police Department’s use of advanced technology has led to the recovery of a stolen vehicle this month.
According to a release from the department, the Flock Safety Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) system played a role in the recovery of the vehicle, as well as communication between agencies.
On the evening of April 4, Parsons police were notified of a stolen 2014 Chevrolet Traverse. The vehicle had been taken from the 1500 block of Appleton and was last seen around 11 p.m. that night. Officers entered the vehicle’s details, including its registration, into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. NCIC is a centralized database maintained by the FBI, giving law enforcement agencies nationwide the ability to share and access critical information about stolen property, missing persons, wanted individuals and more.
What once would have been a case with limited leads and a potentially lengthy resolution was quickly advanced using Parsons’s Flock Safety ALPR technology. The department installed four Flock Safety cameras outside of the city in 2024, giving officers a powerful tool to automatically detect and identify license plates associated with criminal activity, according to the release.
Flock Safety cameras are connected to state and national databases, providing real-time alerts when vehicles reported as stolen, or connected to wanted persons or missing individuals, are detected. The system’s effectiveness lies not only in the cameras installed in Parsons but also in the nationwide network of Flock cameras. For instance, Wichita has over 100 cameras in the Flock system.
On April 6, Parsons officers received an alert from the Flock system indicating that the stolen vehicle had been spotted in Wichita. The Wichita Police Department located and safely recovered the vehicle. It has since been returned to its owner.
“This is a textbook example of how the Flock Safety system empowers small departments like ours to have eyes beyond city limits,” said Parsons Police Chief Robert Spinks in the release. “In years past, this vehicle could have remained missing for weeks, months, or even forever. Without this technology, the odds of recovery — especially outside of our jurisdiction — would have been significantly lower.”
The department has already seen several promising developments as a result
See FLOCK, Page 5.
of this system and anticipates it will play a critical role in ongoing and future investigations. Beyond stolen vehicles, the Flock system is designed to assist with missing persons alerts, including AMBER Alerts for children and Silver Alerts for seniors and to provide investigative leads for violent crimes.
“We are committed to using every tool at our disposal to make Parsons safer and more secure,” Spinks added. “The Flock Safety system has proven to be a force multiplier for our agency and a reassurance to our citizens that we’re investing in solutions that work.”
The department will continue to evaluate and expand its use of technology to enhance public safety, ensure accountability and support law enforcement partners across Kansas and beyond.
For more information about the Flock Safety system or how it supports public safety in Parsons, please contact the Parsons Police Department at (620) 421-7060.
This continues to be an ongoing investigation, and citizens are encouraged to “see it, hear it, report it.” All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If anyone has any further information on this incident or any other criminal activity, please contact the Parsons Police Department at 421-7060, call the Tip Line at 421-7057 or email [email protected].
