Georgia Southern University is planning a major upgrade to its campus security cameras and video technology, using solutions from Flock Safety.

With approximately $1.2 million budgeted, the university will upgrade cameras in the resident halls and other buildings in Statesboro, Savannah and Hinesville to bring the current cameras from analog to a digital platform. Additionally, new cameras will be placed at entrances to the campuses that can tie into those from other law enforcement agencies. The end result will be an interconnected network of cameras across the region.

According to the university, the new technology package includes state-of-the-art cameras, which are motion-activated and record license plate numbers of any vehicle that comes into the hall parking lots. Flock Safety’s “vehicle fingerprint” technology lets police search the video by vehicle make, color, type, license plate, state of the license plate, missing plate, covered plate, paper plate and unique vehicle details such as roof racks, bumper stickers and more.

The cameras can be used to look for a specific suspect or a vehicle that has been entered into law enforcement databases. Additionally, the university can use Flock‘s solutions for investigative purposes by going back and looking for any cars that fit a certain profile if it was associated with a crime or if there was a gunshot detected nearby.

“This upgrade allows us to add more cameras, extend our reach, add storage and searching capabilities and better integrate our cameras into other video surveillance networks in use by local law enforcement,” said Georgia Southern University Police Chief Laura McCullough. “This is a major step forward in our ongoing work to keep our campus safe.”

The project is expected to be completed by the start of the fall 2023 semester.