License plate cameras headed to DeKalb Police Department

DeKALB - The DeKalb Police Department soon will make use of a dozen cameras to take pictures of license plates and vet them for information that police said will better aid criminal investigations.

The DeKalb City Council unanimously approved Monday a five-year contract for 12 license plate readers from CDS Genetec, with the total cost $145,865. The cameras can be mounted onto a squad car or something stationary such as at a highly trafficked intersection and are designed to take photos of license plates as vehicles travel past. The software inside the camera then runs the photo through a database set up by the police department to track plates connected to ongoing investigations.

The readers are designed to only flag license plates that are connected to an ongoing crime, a missing person or someone facing criminal charges, city staff said.

According to city documents, that means the software can potentially flag a stolen car or identify a person wanted for a crime, and also can capture vehicles leaving the scene of a 911 emergency in progress.

During Monday’s City Council meeting, city manager Bill Nicklas recalled how DeKalb Police Chief David Byrd said he wanted to purchase and install license plate readers during a Sept. 8 community public crime and safety meeting at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church. The September meeting was meant to address crime and the increased number of shootings in DeKalb, namely in the Annie Glidden North neighborhood.

Nicklas said there exists a group of about a dozen people who are “bent on causing mischief” and come into DeKalb to lay low – and, “while they’re here, maybe do a little business while they’re at it.”

“These are people who often come armed,” Nicklas said, “and people who have some experience walking on the wrong side of the law are a real threat to the peace and security of the community.”

The three vendors who submitted bids, including CDS Genetec, were asked to price the installation of 12 license plate readers at five main intersections throughout the city, according to city documents. CDS Genetec was the only vendor that would let the police department own the cameras at the end of the five-year contract, with the cameras estimated to have a work life of seven to eight years.