The wins keep coming, across Colorado, for the cutting-edge law enforcement mechanism that perhaps ranks only behind the determination and discipline of our law officers in the crime fight: license-plate reading surveillance cameras.

The Atlanta-based Flock Safety cameras have become an increasingly utilized tool for some of the bigger police departments across the state, from urban areas like Aurora, Colorado Springs and Denver to more suburban climes like Douglas County.

Our state’s boots-on-the-ground officers have as tough a job as ever tracking down and apprehending perpetrators of crimes due to a perfect storm. Departments are still struggling with numbers thanks to misguided “criminal justice reform” state policies enacted amid an “all cops are bad” cultural zeitgeist anchored in the destructive 2020 George Floyd riots. Coddling of auto thieves, shoplifters and juvenile lawbreakers manifests in mounting caseloads.

Throw on top of that crime tied to years of sanctuary policies ushered in by Colorado’s “progressives” in power — inviting the world’s lawbreakers to our state — and police need all the help they can get.

Enter Flock, in many ways the 21st century’s technological manifestation of the old “Neighborhood Watch.” Though we encourage Colorado communities to maintain their Neighborhood Watch, Flock’s license-plate-recognition cameras help complement observant citizens and police, who too often are stretched thin.

The reality is motor vehicles play a key role in a lot of crimes committed across the Centennial State and nation. Sure, crafty criminals go to such lengths as swapping out plates and stealing cars in an attempt to evade police. But Flock’s technology also details for departments such data as missing/covered plates, vehicle make, model, color, alterations, and other unique identifying information.

Three months ago, the technology enabled Aurora police to arrest a thrice-deported Honduran man about to flee the country on charges of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, menacing and illegal discharge of a firearm from a shooting on Interstate 225 the previous weekend.

In Denver, the department’s 12-month pilot program resulted in a drop in auto thefts from more than 12,000 in 2023 to 8,550, on the strength of 300 arrests and 170 vehicles and 29 firearms recovered.

Most recently, on Monday, Douglas County officials said the technology was critical to apprehending 43-year-old Mitchell Aaron Weber after he allegedly fired a weapon at an uninjured victim in another vehicle near Quebec Street and Wildcat Ridge the day before. As in many cases, the technology paired with community members providing information to lead to a breakthrough.

It was the second time in less than a week Douglas County deputies credited Flock cameras with assisting in an arrest. A week earlier, an armed carjacking suspect, Daniel Reynaldo Tolentino, was identified by a Flock camera on Jan. 12, leading to a chase through Highlands Ranch and a shootout with deputies in Littleton, resulting in the alleged, attempted first-degree murder of a law officer, among other charges.

After years of worsening trends, Coloradans should be encouraged by how the advent of this technology is succeeding in tracking down some of the state’s worst offenders. Flock offers the extra lookout law enforcement has needed for so long.