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SHELBY TOWNSHIP — The Shelby Township Police Department will now have even more help to solve crimes throughout the township.
The department requested at the Shelby Township Board of Trustees meeting Feb. 4 the approval to purchase 20 license plate readers from Flock Group Inc. at a cost of $60,000. The board unanimously approved the purchase.
These additional readers will be placed throughout the township in strategic areas. The Flock Safety camera is a stationary investigative license plate reader tool that allows officers to access a database to locate wanted vehicles and provide leads to solve crimes.
The township already has Flock cameras, and the tool has already been used by the department in investigations. The purchase approved Feb. 4 is an addition to the department’s current contract with Flock. This contract will be updated with an annual increase of $60,000.
Deputy Police Chief Jason Schmittler said the department already had 30 devices installed throughout the township.
“The additional 20 cameras would give us the proper coverage for the entire township,” Schmittler said.
“Officers receive alerts for wanted vehicles and persons associated with the vehicle. It’s been an incredible tool to solve (crimes), a real game changer. Our officers use the automated license plate readers daily on the street and in the office to solve crime. I wish we had Flock years ago when I worked cases,” he said.
Police also mentioned the readers possibly being put at parks in the future. Schmittler said this will be a separate project.
With regard to the park, Lt. Brandon Dowty explained how the Flock Safety license plate readers/cameras could be utilized in the parks.
“They can be directly wired or use solar power. During the winter months, the solar power may not be as reliable. Flock license plate readers/cameras located in the parks would speak to the overall Flock Safety system used by the township and other communities using the system as well. As an investigative tool, there is value to having the Flock Safety system,” he said.
Dowty talked about the cost involved with direct wiring of the Flock license plate readers/cameras in the parks. Mounting poles, concrete bases and electrical wiring would be needed. Flock would need to check out the lines-of-sight to make sure a tree is not blocking the view. There might be a possibility of using DTE’s poles.
He said in some areas, such as Holland Ponds Park, only solar power can be used and that would be limited due to the canopy of trees.
Discussion on the topic followed between the Board of Trustees and Dowty. Dowty said a bit more work needs to be done on the project due to costs and pre-bidding before submitting it to a board meeting agenda for approval at a board meeting.
