Galesburg City Council heard a presentation and held a discussion Monday night on installing License Plate Reader cameras at certain traffic points in town.
The Council heard from Kathleen Graham from Flock Safety an Atlanta-based company that contracts with law enforcement agencies around the country.
Graham says Flock’s license plate reader (LPR) cameras have no facial recognition but do record every license plate that passes by with a time and date stamp.
Police can set the system to alert them when a stolen vehicle or vehicle involved in a crime passes by.
The information automatically deletes after 30 days, which the company says is enough time to protect privacy but gives officers an amount of time to investigate.
The LPRs would not be used for basic traffic enforcement.
Galesburg Police Lt. Kevin Legate says where the LPR cameras would go would depend on recommendations both from Flock Safety and GPD.
The cost is $3,000 per camera per year although it’s not yet clear how many cameras Galesburg is considering.
