Kent city leaders may be leaning away from purchasing automated license plate readers, but leave city limits and you’re probably on camera.
Typically mounted on roadside poles, the plate readers (known as ALPRs) capture the rear of a vehicle and its license plate as it drives away. Flock Safety — the company that provides the cameras — is rolling out an upgrade that also enables them to capture video feeds.
Flock’s video feed could enable police to search for a person with certain characteristics wearing specific clothing. By signing data sharing agreements with other local, state or federal agencies, local police can also set alerts to be notified when another department’s camera does the same.
Many communities in and around Portage County already use ALPRs, and data sharing agreements are quite common.
Aurora has four Flock cameras, and shares data with 22,729 cameras in and out of Ohio. Aurora Police Department Lt. Rob Hagquist declined to say how many agencies those cameras belong to, or where Aurora’s cameras are located.
“If we disclose the locations, then people will be able to avoid the locations,” he said.
Hagquist said the cameras have been valuable in discovering people with warrants that are entering the city, locating vehicles that are reported stolen, and solving car thefts.
Ravenna has 10 cameras: two in the downtown area and more at undisclosed city limits. The Ravenna Police Department retains its data for 30 days, and has sharing agreements with more than 300 cities.
“A lot of our crime is not the residents of Ravenna, it’s people coming in from different towns and different cities,” Ravenna Police Chief Jake Smallfield said. “They’re coming into Ravenna to commit crimes, so we strategically put our cameras to see who’s coming into our town.”
Brimfield Township police have four ALPRs, but did not respond to The Portager’s request for additional information.
Stow has 16 Flock cameras and shares with “most everybody on the Flock network,” SPD Capt. Bryan Snavely said, adding that if neighboring Kent also contracts with Flock, both cities will benefit.
“These are very valuable tools. They really provide us with actionable leads and evidence information that actually leads to results, something that we can use to solve crime,” he said.
The cameras can enable police to proactively prevent crimes should cameras capture a known vehicle or person of interest; and they can ensure effective and efficient reaction times once a crime has been committed, he said.
Portage County’s fourth city, Streetsboro, does not use ALPRs, but city police said they understand some individual retailers in the city might.
Mogadore Village police used state grant funds to purchase and install two Flock LPRs in early June. One camera is located on South Cleveland Avenue; the other is on Mogadore Road.
Windham has six ALPRs at the village’s entrance and exits, and has sharing agreements state and nationwide.
Windham Police Chief Rick Garinger called the cameras “tremendous,” saying they have pinpointed vehicles associated with local crimes and helped police locate a missing juvenile.
But, since a recurring state grant does not seem to have come through, Windham’s use of Flock cameras may be coming to an end.
“They’re not cheap,” he said. “I think it was $18,000 for the six that we have.”
Bainbridge Township, directly north of Aurora, has two Flock cameras on Route 43. One is on the Geauga-Portage County border; the other is at the Bainbridge Township-Solon border.
Bainbridge police installed the cameras when the area around the former Geauga Lake Amusement Park morphed into a massive retail area and businesses began reporting “push-outs,” aka shoplifting incidents, said Bainbridge Lt. Kurt Dreger.
Store personnel might not have the suspect’s license plate, but can tell police the color and kind of vehicle, and the approximate time it left the parking lot, Dreger said. The Flock cameras can pinpoint the vehicle, allowing police to pull up the owner’s license plate and compare their driver’s license photo with the store’s video surveillance data. A match is a success.
“That would be a very common way that we use those license plate cameras,” Dreger said.
Tallmadge, which shares a small border with Portage County, also has 16 Flock cameras, TPD Capt. Jeremy McGee said. None of the cameras are at the Tallmadge-Portage County border, the nearest one being at the East Howe/North Munroe Road roundabout.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.