Felter: I Won't Authorize License Cameras in Police Cars

The Jefferson Township police asked the for money to outfit one car with a license plate recognition system. However, Mayor Russell Felter said that he would not recommend the purchase this year and in fact, if the council approved the budget item, he would not authorize the purchase.

The line item in the budget called for $20,000, which would outfit one patrol vehicle with a two-camera system. According to Craig, the cameras would take photos of license plates, which could then be sent to the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).

“It’s amazing how much information we can get from this system,” Craig said. “We can get information about stolen cars, cars wanted for any reason, Amber or Silver Alerts; what we can find out is endless.”

He noted that the system takes the photos at about one car per second. The cameras would be mounted on the car so that photos could be taken of vehicles coming at the patrol unit or behind it.

The police wanted to start with outfitting one patrol vehicle.

“We’d want to do one car and then after a year we would evaluate traffic revenue and decide if we wanted to outfit another vehicle,” Craig said.

After Craig’s presentation, Felter explained his reason for denying the budget item.

“I think the technology is too new, and I believe there could be legal challenges involved with this system,” Felter said. “I want to wait a year and then revisit it.”

Craig admitted that the technology is cutting edge, but said that several other area departments have at least one vehicle outfitted with the system.