North Liberty installing license plate readers

North Liberty last week began installing 12 license plate recognition cameras, meant to detect stolen cars and vehicles tied to wanted suspects or people in distress.

But North Liberty police will not begin receiving alerts from the cameras until a policy for camera use has been approved and officers and command staff have been trained.

The cameras are designed to give law enforcement agencies alerts when a vehicle identified with an Amber or Silver alert is detected. Additionally, the cameras are used to identify stolen cars and suspects listed in state or national crime databases.

The purchase of the cameras, about $40,000, was unanimously approved by North Liberty City Council. The cameras will continue to cost the city $35,000 in successive years.

Flock Safety, the camera vendor, said its cameras are in use in 3,000 police departments across the country. The cameras are in use at the University of Iowa and within the Des Moines metro area.

Flock Safety said its cameras are meant to capture only license plates and vehicle characteristics, not photos of the occupants. The company says data is deleted every 30 days.

The cameras are not traffic enforcement devices and will not be used to issue red-light or speed violations. However, the cameras may report a violation in order to dispatch an officer or provide vehicle information to a neighboring jurisdiction.