Canton Wants To Hear From Community About Using License Plate Cameras

CANTON, MI — The Canton Board of Trustees wants to hear from the community before it gives police the go-ahead to install license plate reader cameras in an area that has seen a rise in retail thefts.

Canton residents can share their opinions at City Hall on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. The police department will also present information about the proposal during the meeting.

Police want to place the cameras at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Beck Road, near a shopping center where they say more and more people have been stealing items from stores. The cameras will help officers track down the thieves, police said.

The department crafted the idea to install the four Motorola LPR cameras on poles at the Michigan Avenue and Beck Road intersection after receiving a $40,000 grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

The cameras take photographs of passing vehicles, recording license plate numbers, the date, time, make, model and color of the car. Police would then check the photographs to its database to determine if the vehicle was used in a car, or if it's associated with other alerts, such as amber alerts or missing persons.

Although the cameras do not capture a photograph of the driver or anyone inside the vehicle, or names, birthdays or addresses, some worry police could find out that personal information through a secondary search, leading to privacy concerns.