Cole County will be one of a handful of counties in the state to be using stationary cameras that can be used to share data among law enforcement agencies about vehicles traveling through their areas.
At Tuesday's Cole County Commission meeting, commissioners signed a memorandum of understanding with Flock Camera System for eight cameras that will be placed in areas along U.S. 54, U.S. 50/63 and U.S. 63.
Sheriff John Wheeler told commissioners that officials from the Missouri Department of Public Safety approached him about participating in the program.
"It's a free program for the first year, and after the first year, we can decide if we want to continue to use these cameras," Wheeler said. "We can see at the end of the first year if the data shows the system is working for us."
The cost would be $2,500 per camera for a year if the county wanted to continue to participate in the program.
The cameras would be mounted on a pole and do not rotate. The specific locations for the cameras haven't been determined, Wheeler said.
"They will not take pictures of the front of vehicles, only the rear," Wheeler said. "There won't be pictures of persons' faces."
Mike O'Connell, DPS spokesman, told the News Tribune, "Cameras like these (you will also see them referred to as automated license plate recognition systems, license plate readers or LPRs) are used elsewhere in Missouri (Kansas City and St. Louis) and across the U.S.
"The automated cameras detect and can then alert law enforcement to license plates that law enforcement is looking for because the vehicle has been reported stolen, or is associated with some other crime or terrorism. The cameras can also assist in AMBER Alerts, Blue Alerts, and other missing or endangered person cases."
Wheeler told commissioners it was his understanding 17 other cameras will be placed in other parts of the state.
O'Connell said this is a pilot program and many details are still being worked out, but they could be in as many as six counties in the state. Cole County is the first to sign on to be part of the project.
Wheeler told the commissioners the cameras would serve two functions.
"For instance, if my vehicle was stolen, I could input the license plate numbers and the system would do two things: 1. It would tell me if any of the license plate readers in the counties that had them had seen this vehicle; 2. From that point on, it would watch for that plate," he said.
O'Connell added: "For a license plate to be on the 'hot list' of plates targeted for detection there must be a criminal nexus, or a suspected connection to a crime or terrorist activity."
Wheeler said the information is dumped from the system after 30 days so if no one inputs information on that particular plate number it goes away. He added that Flock does not sell the information their systems collect to other parties.
To notify deputies if the cameras have picked up something they should check out, an app will be installed in their mobile data terminal in their patrol vehicles.
"I'm not opposed to stationary license plate readers because to operate a motor vehicle on a public roadway is not a right, it's a privilege," Wheeler said.