VILLAGE OF EAST SYRACUSE – DeWitt Police Captain Brenton White sought the approval of the East Syracuse Village Board last week to implement automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras around the village.
White said the cameras made by the public safety operating system company Flock Safety are deterrents that capture objective evidence of crimes in progress and alert police in real time.
White’s presentation materials further explained the helpfulness of the technology considering declining police headcounts in certain areas of the country and the fact that a high percentage of crimes involve vehicles.
White said that multiple other police agencies in Onondaga County either have ALPR cameras in place or are exploring the possibility of installing them, though he admitted that concerns have been raised by some municipalities about the possibility of the cameras resulting in an invasion of privacy.
White revealed, though, that the technology is not used for traffic enforcement, not reliant on facial recognition, not connected to registration data or third party databases, and not capable of retaining data beyond the 30-day point.
He said the catalyst that brought the DeWitt Police to want to obtain the cameras for the town of DeWitt and the village of East Syracuse was a recent homicide being investigated that was not caught on any camera footage, thus creating a “major hurdle” for the department.
The technology would also assist with solving burglaries, robberies and sex crimes by detecting the plate number, color and model of the car that the suspect escapes the scene in, White said.
White said to the board that his ideal situation would be to have cameras placed within the eastern, western, northern and southern parts of the village of East Syracuse, particularly in sections that see comparatively higher amounts of crime. He specifically mentioned a goal to cover stretches of Thompson Road, James Street, Burnet Avenue and Erie Boulevard, but he told the village board the placement of the cameras would ultimately be up to them.
The DeWitt Police Department is currently in talks with private businesses like hotels, supermarkets and big box stores on main thoroughfares to see if they would sponsor cameras on their properties. The Lotte Biologics plant in East Syracuse already has two installed, White said.
At its meeting held on July 10, the East Syracuse Village Board approved the purchase of two Flock Safety ALPR cameras for $3,000 a piece with the exact positions to be discussed at a later date. That price includes the cost of operating the camera and keeping it running.
White said cameras can be added on or taken out of operation at any point in time, but he said the price per camera could fluctuate in ensuing years.
“Should we want to add on, we can revisit this, but for right now I feel comfortable saying that, yes, we can hop on board with this and be a part of it,” Mayor Lorene Dadey said. “I think this is a step in the right direction.”