{"id":15126,"date":"2024-04-22T09:42:06","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T13:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=15126"},"modified":"2024-04-22T09:42:07","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T13:42:07","slug":"decatur-to-use-license-plate-reader-cameras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/decatur-to-use-license-plate-reader-cameras\/","title":{"rendered":"Decatur to use license plate reader cameras"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By BOB SHRALUKA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A relatively new weapon in crime fighting will be coming to Decatur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At its latest meeting, city council agreed with the board of works’ recommendation to sign up for the use of four License Plate Recognition cameras (LPRs) from Flock Safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea was brought to the board by Police Chief Kevin Gerber, who said the cameras \u201ccould be more guards at the gates of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Chief Kevin Gerber<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cameras are set up outdoors and capture only license plate numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUp front, I was a little worried about a big brother thing, but it’s not that at all,\u201d Gerber told the board. The cameras do not register such things as speed, he continued; only license plate numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
License Plate Recognition camera
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir purpose is to look for felonious activity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data from the license plates is sent through the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) and the data received is wiped out at the end of 30 days,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe would own the data and we would control what happens to it,\u201d he continued, and it could be shared with other law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city does not purchase the LPRs, but subscribes to using them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data could alert local police to someone coming into Decatur who might be wanted elsewhere, it was pointed out. And it can assist in finding someone who might be wanted here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An example was given about the license plate system aiding in the capture of three South Dakota suspects charged in the alleged kidnapping of an 11-year-old Zanesville (Wells County) girl in late December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wells and Huntington counties already employ the cameras, Adams County Sheriff Dan Mawhorr is looking into them, as are Fort Wayne officials, Gerber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDetective (Corey) Hamm has done a lot of work on this\u201d for the local department, Gerber added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerber proposed subscribing to eight of the cameras, using ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. But after some discussion, the board decided to go with four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would feel more comfortable going with four at this time,\u201d Mayor Dan Rickord said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat’s kind of what I’m thinking,\u201d added board member and councilman Tyler Fullenkamp added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total cost for the two years of use will be $26,600. The board decided to take $14,600 in ARPA monies to fund the first year, which will include an installation charge, and have Gerber work the remaining $12,000 into his budget for 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exact locations of the cameras will be decided later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerber said after the meeting that the department will use the Falcon LPRs, one of three types offered by Flock Safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chief said he was told that the lead time in getting the LPRs will be several months. \u201cThe company has to file permits with the INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation) because they\u2019re being placed along the side of state highways,\u201d Gerber explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By BOB SHRALUKA WZBD.com A relatively new weapon in crime fighting will be coming to Decatur. At its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6496,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14,15,21],"class_list":["post-15126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-decatur","tag-featured","tag-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/decaturpolice2.jpg?fit=1600%2C1600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}