Dayton votes to expand license plate cameras, renews other police technology

Jeremy P. Kelley and Cornelius Frolik, Dayton Daily News, Ohio
·3 min read

Dec. 21—Dayton City Commission on Wednesday night approved an expansion of license plate reader camera technology in the city and three other contracts related to police technology.

In a 3-2 vote, the commission approved spending $825,750 to acquire 35 new fixed-site automated license plate readers from Flock Group, Inc. The contract also covers the cost of maintaining 37 fixed-site readers that Dayton police already use. The agreement lasts through the end of 2028.

Mayor Jeff Mims and commissioners Chris Shaw and Matt Joseph voted in favor of the contract. Commissioners Darryl Fairchild and Shenise Turner-Sloss voted no.

The contract vote was delayed in November after pushback from community members. A citizen group called the Coalition on Public Protection said the city's own policies should have required a public hearing and an impact report because the contract expands the scope of camera use.

In a Dec. 4 memo to City Manager Shelley Dickstein, Dayton police Chief Kamran Afzal said the police department believes the expansion complies with public policy, citing an earlier public hearing, and that nearly doubling the number of units "is consistent with the city's approved use case."

Dayton police Major Paul Saunders recently said automated license plate readers have helped solve serious crimes, including murders, and have helped recover many stolen vehicles at a time when auto thefts have surged.

Saunders said the police department will only install plate readers in neighborhoods that want them. The city installed 11 fixed-site devices in the Twin Towers neighborhood, 10 in Old North Dayton, 10 in Westwood and half a dozen downtown. Saunders has said the Huffman neighborhood has requested license plate readers, and some members of the downtown community want more devices in the center city.

Other police contracts approved

By a 5-0 vote, City Commission approved a professional service agreement with Axon Enterprise for the 2024 yearly subscription for body-worn police cameras, in-car cameras and related services, including storage via evidence.com, which is used by the prosecutor's office.

The contract allocates $730,000 for 2024, with the total contract through the year 2030 approved for $6.78 million. The camera systems' technology aligns case ID numbers and location data from the regional dispatch system and DPD's own information systems. It also includes "auto transcribe" service for all footage.

By a 5-0 vote, Commission approved a one-year renewal contract with Altumint (formerly Optotraffic) for the traffic safety enforcement system, to include fixed, semi-portable and hand-held automatic speed devices for photo enforcement, as well as ticket verification and activity reports. The contract is revenue-driven (no cost to the city unless ticket revenue is received) and estimates a city cost of $1.2 million to go with city revenue of $4.8 million.

By a 5-0 vote, Commission approved a one-year renewal contract for $397,000 with Optica Consulting, to provide crime and data analysis, criminal information system support and "hot-spot" identification to help Dayton Police combat crime.