Las Cruces Police Offer 2021 Case as Example in Current Flock Camera Discussion

The department describes the 2021 investigation as an example of how a single piece of information generated by the system can be combined with a victim’s recollections, previous police contacts, body-camera footage and subsequent investigative work.

Source: Las Cruces Police (via Facebook)
Images: Courtesy

As discussion surrounding automated license plate reader technology continues in Las Cruces and communities across the country, the Las Cruces Police Department has released a video showing how information from a Flock camera contributed to an investigation nearly five years ago.

“A lot is being said about Flock technology. Here’s what it looked like as one tool in a real investigation, resulting in a dangerous offender off the streets.”

The department presented the video as an example of the technology functioning as one investigative tool rather than independently solving a case. The video presents the investigation through the following 25-point sequence. Screenshots from the video have been included at several points for reference.

The following sequence is presented as it appears in LCPD’s video:

October 14, 2021

Las Cruces, New Mexico

The Case of: Ezequiel Rosales

1. A woman was kidnapped and sexually assaulted.
2. She had been camping behind the water tower near Telshor.
   
3. That night, she told police a man grabbed her and forced her into his vehicle.
4. She was driven away and sexually assaulted.
5. Afterward, the man drove her back.
6. But along the way, the victim remembered details…
7. Details that would become critical to the investigation.
8. She remembered passing [a bank] on Lohman and Walnut.
   
9. She remembered seeing the time [12:00 AM].
   
10. That gave investigators a specific time and location.
11. She also remembered the vehicle. A maroon, two-door car…
12. Distinctive stickers across the dashboard.
13. And part of the license plate… ACPL.
14. Flock found a match.
15. A maroon, two-door Mustang crossed Lohman and Solano at 11:59 PM.
    
16. Just one minute before the time she remembered seeing on the sign.
17. The same Mustang had been stopped by LCPD days earlier.
18. Investigators reviewed the Officer’s body camera footage.
19. Inside the vehicle—the same distinctive dashboard stickers the victim had described.
    
20. The driver also matched the description.
21. Piece by piece, the details were coming together.
22. Flock alone didn’t solve the case.
23. It gave investigators a lead, and police work took it from there.
24. That lead became another piece of the investigation that helped identify Ezequiel Rosales.
    
25. Rosales plead guilty. Today, he remains in prison.

An Older Case in a Current Discussion

LCPD released the video as communities continue discussing the use of Flock and other automated license plate reader systems, including questions surrounding their usefulness, reach and appropriate role in law enforcement.

The department describes the 2021 investigation as an example of how a single piece of information generated by the system can be combined with a victim’s recollections, previous police contacts, body-camera footage and subsequent investigative work.

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The age of the example also provides additional context for that discussion.

The investigation occurred nearly five years before LCPD released the video. The department’s presentation does not identify similar examples involving more recent Las Cruces investigations, leaving their availability as one of the questions that can accompany the example as the broader community discussion continues.

For its part, LCPD framed the 2021 case this way:

“Nearly five years later, this case still shows how one lead can move an investigation forward.”