License plate-reading cameras to be installed along Rockside Road

by Erica Peterson

Nov. 10 council meeting

In an effort to assist police in tracking criminals, Independence City Council accepted the recommendation of Police Chief Michael Kilbane to install automatic license plate reader cameras along the Rockside Road corridor.

Council approved spending $162,750 with Atlanta-based Flock Safety to install 31 ALPR cameras and to lease the appropriate software for two years.

Kilbane said in pre-meeting caucus that the department wants to add to the one ALPR camera at Rockside and Brecksville road that a grant funded a few years ago.

“We’ve had tremendous success with that camera with both identifying suspects and tracking vehicles,” he said.

The first phase of the expansion targets the business corridors along Rockside Road and the Interstate 77/480 cloverleaf area.

“If anybody with ill intent wants to come into our city to do something, they are not going to be able to do so without triggering one of these cameras,” Kilbane said. “We’ll be able to capture their vehicles and their license plates.”

The Rockside/Brecksville camera is tied into Cuyahoga County’s ALPR network, which covers major intersections in Cleveland and neighboring suburbs. That allows suspect vehicles to be tracked as they leave the city, he said.

The cameras are also connected to the FBI’s national crime information computer, so police can set alerts for stolen vehicles, warrants and other crimes. The system automatically sends a message to police on the road when cameras are triggered. That can provide valuable to officers on patrol.

“Just in the past week, one of our officers stopped three different individuals and took loaded guns off of convicted felons that weren’t allowed to possess them. All three of them, in the Rockside Road area, had warrants,” Kilbane said. “Had they gone through the ALPR system, they would have triggered [alerts].”

The cameras are also great investigative tools after a crime, to help track vehicles, he said.

Once the contract is signed, Kilbane said the cameras should be delivered and installed within four to six weeks.

Council Member Dale Veverka asked if the cameras could be installed along the Interstate 77/Pleasant Valley Road intersections as well.

Kilbane said the department assessed criminal activity and determined the Rockside Road and cloverleaf corridors would provide the most immediate impact. Next, the department would like to add cameras to Pleasant Valley and Brecksville roads, he said.