SPEARFISH — After a 15-year-old Sundance girl was abducted on Monday, authorities used automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology to quickly locate her and apprehend the suspect, according to Attorney General Marty Jackley.
Cutting edge ALPR technology uses both artificial intelligence, a nation-wide network of cameras, and surveillance capable of recording vehicle sightings in specific places and times, reading license plates and noting the make, model, and distinguishing features of a vehicle to help law enforcement apprehend suspects and gather evidence — sometimes across state lines. Flock Safety, a company founded in 2017, has harnessed that technology to great effect. According to Flock, more than 5,000 cities use their products to solve approximately 2,000 crimes a day. The systems do not use facial recognition, but they deliver alerts to law enforcement agencies in their network based on “vehicle specific data.”
On Monday, the youth sexual abduction suspect was stopped on I-90 near the Aurora County Line, east of Plankinton — one hour after state authorities were first notified of the crime, according to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office. Authorities had suspected that 36-year-old suspect, Dalton Renollet of Maricopa, Ariz., was headed back to Arizona with the victim, until ALPR cameras located him in South Dakota.
Renollet has been charged with one count of sexual contact with a minor in Aurora County.
“A 15-year-old abducted and traumatized girl has been brought to safety by the excellent work of law enforcement. This incident demonstrates how valuable technology can be in protecting the public and assisting officers to locate a vulnerable juvenile and bring her to safety within an hour,” said Jackley. “I remain committed to strict safeguards and oversight to ensure this technology protects the public from serious crimes with strong protections in place to safeguard personal privacy.”
Jackley has announced plans to propose legislation to ensure that ALPR technology is used appropriately.
Four years ago, the state Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) installed a Flock camera in Belle Fourche along Highway 85. Belle Fourche Police Chief Ryan Cherveny said DCI tested both a Flock camera and a Motorola camera to see which technology would work best. The camera has since been moved.
Locally, the Sturgis, Spearfish, Deadwood, and Belle Fourche Police departments do not use Flock cameras; however they do use surveillance cameras in certain locations.
In August, the Belle Fourche Police Department issued a statement to address public questions about the city’s surveillance cameras.
“The cameras operated by the city of Belle Fourche and the Belle Fourche Police Department are not part of the Flock camera system or any national network,” according to the Aug. 8 statement.
The cameras the city uses come from Verkada Security Systems. They do use ALPR technology.
“We looked into Flock a few years ago. At the time DCI was also looking at Flock,” Cherveny told the Pioneer. “We had already started with Verkata in city hall, and there is a local IT guy who is trained on maintenance and repairs.” Verkata had a more cost efficient system.
The city’s surveillance cameras are set up in parks, buildings, and “a small number of roadway locations where most traffic crashes and complaints occur.” They are not linked to any outside system and are not able to share data on any national or state networks.
Police officers can pull up the footage from those cameras to investigate specific incidents or determine a subject’s direction of travel.
Those cameras are not monitored 24/7, and unlike Flock cameras, do not allow other agencies inherent access to location information.
“We aren’t tied in with any other programs,” Cherveny said. “Ours is in-house.”
Cherveny said law enforcement partners can ask for information, and provide a reason. Officers are able to review footage, but they can’t perform license plate searches to track a subject’s movement without the presence of a supervisor and a call for service number that links the documented search to a case. Those checks and balances are important, Cherveny said, especially given the proven uses the cameras have. He said those measures protect privacy and keep officers safe.
Cherveny said the cameras in city parks have reduced vandalism by “almost 100%.”
The police chief said, “They have saved a ton of money for public works.” The small number of vandalism cases that have occurred recently have been solved using surveillance footage, Cherveny said.
He said last year, after the Exit 8 gas station in Spearfish and the St. Onge bar were both victims of break-ins, a suspect was apprehended in Belle Fourche after they drove by one of the city’s parks.
According to court documents, surveillance cameras provided critical evidence that helped identify the suspects involved in an assault in Jones Park in April 2025. The victim was beaten, robbed, and kicked in the head “soccer style” by a group of young men. Much of the attack was captured on surveillance footage.
“That is the purpose of this technology. To catch criminal activity,” Cherveny said. “We have solved assaults, including 2 sexual assaults this year alone using this technology.”
Just one week after the Verkada cameras were installed, Cherveney said they were used to help identify a vehicle that was being used in a kidnapping. Preliminary reports from other law enforcement agencies had officers looking for a pickup truck. Using a combination of telephone tracking technology and the cameras in Belle Fourche, officers were able to determine that the vehicle was an SUV not a pickup, to stop that SUV, and safely return the child to their family.
“We never would have known which vehicle it was without capturing the plate.”
The cameras are regularly used to locate missing children who may have gotten off their school bus at the wrong stop, or adults with dementia who have gotten lost in the community.
“This technology is one of the greatest assets to law enforcement for finding missing people,” Cherveny said.
Deadwood does use license plate reading cameras on its parking ramp to determine who has, and has not, paid for parking. The cameras can also be used to determine if vehicles are damaged before or after they enter the parking lot — to help address any incidents that might happen in the parking structure.
Deadwood Police Chief Cory Shafer said there is a distinct difference between Flock cameras and the basic license plate readers that are used on the parking ramp.
“It’s intent and capabilities are not that of a Flock camera,” Shafer said. The camera does not collect identifying details, and does not connect to any larger network for data sharing.
At this time, Shafer said, the department is not looking at acquiring more advanced ALPR cameras.
“ALPRs are not new, but Flock is new and there are a lot of unknowns that come with that technology,” Shafer said. “It is OK to sit back and not make decisions about technology like this until we know more.”
Deadwood is a high-traffic area — tourists visit from all corners of the country. Using technology like Flock cameras could help catch criminals from other jurisdictions Shafer said. But, with the positive possibilities are growing privacy concerns and fears about over-surveillance and misuse.
Sturgis Police Chief Geody VanDewater noted that there have already been examples of officers abusing the technology — cases he said, “unfortunately give both the technology and law enforcement a bad name.”
A Kentucky police officer was arrested after allegedly tracking his ex-girlfriend using Flock cameras. A Georgia police chief was arrested for allegedly using the technology to stalk and harass multiple people.
“They have their place in our society,” VanDewater said of advanced ALPR technology. “And there are more positives than negatives,” while noting safeguards must be put in place to prevent misuse.
He said the attorney general’s office helped shed light on the positive use of the cameras by issuing a statement on the abduction this week and it’s outcome.
“I bet the victim (of that crime) is happy about this technology,” Shafer noted, while maintaining a balanced tone and clarifying that there are no plans to implement Flock or Flock-style cameras in the near future in Deadwood.
Sturgis does not use ALPR technology.
“The department has contemplated using them,” VanDewater said, “But the cost is a barrier. That money is needed to keep up on our current equipment.”
Spearfish does not use ALPR technology, but Police Chief Collin Smith did not rule out acquiring them in the future.
“The Spearfish Police Department will continually evaluate all new technologies that may assist in protecting and serving the public,” Smith said.
The city council recently approved the purchase of new security cameras for the rec center and the police department that will allow remote access — a measure Smith said will help with the public safety answer point (PSAP) consolidation the city and Lawrence County are working toward. The 2 public safety agencies are hoping to merge resources and run dispatch and 911 answering services out of the county’s new public safety and services center on Tatanka Drive in Deadwood.
“With the consolidation of the PSAP this new system will allow the telecommunicators to monitor the activity at city hall and within the police department 24/7,”Smith said. “This is currently being done by Spearfish PD communications officers so allowing them to continue to perform this while being stationed at the Lawrence County Sheriff Office is essential for the safety and security of our facilities, staff, and citizens.”
That system has little in common with Flock or ALPR cameras — those cameras are used strictly for routine surveillance.
“It is a very valuable tool. It is just one that has to have the right structures in place,” Cherveny said. He also said that cellphones offer much more surveillance than Verkada or even Flock cameras can. He said officers can see learn more about a person in 5 minutes based on the contents of their phone than they can from surveillance footage.
