Police department plans to buy 15 license plate cameras
Fairborn plans to join the growing list of Dayton-area police departments using automated license plate readers.
The police department plans to contract with Flock Safety Inc. for 15 cameras, allowing it to tap into a “wide network of cameras in the region,” according to Fairborn records.
More than a dozen area police departments, including Beavercreek, Centerville, Dayton, Huber Heights, Kettering and Springboro, use the stationary cameras to aid investigations, according to results of a Dayton Daily News survey earlier this year.
“The cameras will allow officers and detectives to search vehicles that pass by the cameras’ fixed location,” Fairborn police Chief Ben Roman told this news organization.
“This will help our investigators identify suspects in crimes.”
To gain access to the Flock network, the department needs to contract with the Atlanta-based business for 15 cameras at a cost of $49,600, more than three times what the department budgeted, Roman told Fairborn City Council Monday night.
Additional money approved by council will come from a $30,000 transfer previously designated for upgrades to building cam- eras and $5,000 that had been earmarked for miscellaneous equipment, according to city records.
“The No. 1 job of government is to provide safety and security,” Fairborn Mayor Dan Kirkpatrick. “This is another tool in our tool bag to make that happen.”
When the cameras will be installed depends on several factors, including choosing locations and Flock’s availability, Roman said.