PS City Council votes unanimously to move forward with Flock Nova crime analysis software
Cynthia White
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – After hearing of its safety advantages from Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills, The Palm Springs City Council voted unanimously in favor to purchase the new Flock Nova system on Thursday night.
Mills explained to the Council the Flock Nova is an operating system has been used successfully to identify suspects by combining data bases that the department would normally need to access separately in order to gather information on a suspect.
He added, “What would have taken us minimally hours, normally days, to accomplish, we’ll have at our fingertips and hopefully we can use that information to identify people within minutes. So this changes the ball game completely and allows us to identify people as rapidly as possible. So it gives us that opportunity to find that person, stop them and get them into custody.”
Mills also assured the Council that civil rights would be protected; there was no potential for abuse of the data, as it cannot be shared with the federal government. He said the only exception he would make would be in the event of a terrorist threat, giving the example of the terrorist bombing of the IVF clinic in May.
The Palm Springs Police Department says the system could be up and running in about 3 months.