Flock Safety cameras in use across the Four Corners ‒ including Durango ‒ helped law enforcement locate and arrest an Iowa man suspected of killing three women in Wayne County, Utah, earlier this week, police said.
A Durango Police Department Facebook post said the department received a notification about 11 p.m. Wednesday that a vehicle linked to the suspect had been detected by Flock Safety cameras in the Four Corners.
“Our night shift sergeant got information from dispatch that they were looking for this individual car, which belonged to one of the women that were murdered,” said DPD Police Chief Brice Current. “They were looking for that license plate because the vehicle was missing from the scene of the homicide.”
Current said the department was told the vehicle had passed through Farmington and Aztec, and was potentially heading toward Durango. The department mobilized to intercept the vehicle, he said.
The vehicle had already passed through town. When notified, officers checked the city’s Flock Safety cameras, confirmed the vehicle had passed through Durango and determined its likely direction of travel, the Facebook post said.
“Upon receiving the alert, Durango officers urgently accessed the Flock Safety system to review time-stamped camera detections tied to the vehicle,” the Facebook post said. “Additional detections showed the vehicle had already passed through Durango and seemed to be heading toward Pagosa Springs.”
Durango police immediately relayed the information to the Pagosa Springs Police Department, the Archuleta County Sheriff’s Office and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a Pagosa Springs Police Department Facebook post, officers there were notified about 11:10 p.m.
“A Pagosa Springs police officer found the vehicle within the city limits,” the post said. “The vehicle was then abandoned in Centennial Park in the downtown area. PSPD officers secured the vehicle. A manhunt for the suspect ensued with PSPD drones and assistance from La Plata County Sheriff’s deputies providing canines, Archuleta County Sheriff and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
About 2:41 a.m. Thursday, a man matching the description of the suspect – later identified as 23-year-old Ivan Miller – was located and arrested. A search revealed Miller was carrying a handgun and a large knife, while a subsequent interview linked Miller to the three murders in Utah, the post said.
Current said Flock Safety cameras aided in Miller’s arrest by helping locate the suspect vehicle. Law enforcement agencies already had the vehicle’s license plate number. When DPD was notified it might be heading toward Durango, officers entered the plate into the Flock system to see whether the vehicle had been captured by city cameras.
“Because we’re connected to the system, the sharing capability is what’s super important,” Current said.
Some critics say Flock Safety cameras are ripe for abuse. They liken the system to mass surveillance, logging drivers’ movements and making that information available to officers and other law enforcement agencies, including federal authorities.
Some Durango residents are considering a citizen initiative that would require law enforcement to obtain warrants to access Flock data. Legislation under consideration at the Colorado Legislature would require warrants for database searches conducted more than 72 hours after an incident.
Current said the Durango Police Department does not have cameras everywhere, nor does it actively monitor residents.
“It just captures where people were at one moment, not where they are currently or where they’re going,” Current said. “If that was the case, it would be considered surveillance.”
The DPD Facebook post said the case demonstrates how the technology can coordinate a rapid response to stop dangerous individuals who might otherwise go unnoticed.
“It reduces the risk of further violent crime by enabling officers to identify, coordinate, and respond more quickly,” the post said. “Flock Safety detections do not provide real-time tracking, but they give objective, time-stamped investigative leads.”
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
