Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office to install license plate cameras
EVANSVILLE — Residents will soon see more automatic license plate-reading cameras popping up in the area, this time in the coverage area of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office.
A professional services agreement was approved Tuesday afternoon by Vanderburgh County commissioners. There was no discussion during the meeting, and no questions were asked about the contract though Sheriff Noah Robinson was present.
The 60-month agreement with Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company that already does business with the Evansville Police Department, will cost $240,050.
This includes the Flock Safety Flock OS, its cloud-based system, 17 of the Flock Safety Falcons, the physical camera, and Flock Safety Advanced search.
The cameras use artificial intelligence to scan a passing vehicle's license plate, and can detect a vehicle's make, model, color and aftermarket alterations, according to company records.
Police officers and detectives can then use an online interface to search a vehicle's movements in connection with a specific criminal case
Flock Safety cameras can be synced with federal crime databases and "hot lists" setup by local departments, allowing police to be notified in near real time when a vehicle associated with a wanted person drives past a camera.
Evansville police currently have 55 cameras set up and have touted their use in helping solve multiple cases.
Robinson told the Courier & Press after the meeting that when he was elected he wanted to take a wait-and-see approach to the technology to have some knowledge of the results it could provide.
He said some of those cases solved with the help of the Flock cameras settled the decision for him, as well as that VCSO deputies were utilizing the EPD system in some of their own cases.
Robinson said the technology offers the opportunity to get in front of issues, an example being in the case of a protective order potentially being violated.
"For the first time this system would allow you to set up and alert if a vehicle you're looking for comes through a certain area," he said.
Robinson said his approach to the cameras was slightly different than EPD's in the sense that he wanted to get community buy-in for the system.
He, along with some officers from EPD, spoke to the Darmstadt Town Council and Robinson said while they were initially hesitant, the council agreed to pay for four of the cameras, which will be placed in Darmstadt.
He's also talked with local business, and the University of Southern Indiana which has agreed to use three of the Flock cameras.
Robinson hopes to get the first batch of cameras installed by January, 40 by February and then more from there.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office to install license plate cameras
