VBT moves forward on getting intersection cameras for police

Van Buren Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara told the stories of several, unsolved drive-by shootings in the township over the past few years and said that is why he personally is putting forward a plan to get surveillance cameras at intersections that can record license plates.
At the May 18 zoom meeting of the township board, Supervisor McNamara said two years ago some yahoo did a drive-by shooting and went to the freeways and got away. He referred to the drive-by shooting in Belleville, where they did get a license plate number and recovered the car carrying the shooter.
He said in VBT, seven bullets were put into a woman’s car at her $300,000 home at 11:43 a.m. The shooter got away and then there was another shooting at that location and the shooter got away again, he said.
“London does this,” McNamara said, saying the cameras at freeway entryways allow police to get the plate numbers.
[The Independent asked VBT Police Chief Jason Wright for details on Supervisor McNamara’s statement about shootings. Chief Wright said, “Over the last couple of years we have had some shots fired at various locations throughout the township at apartment complexes, single-family dwelling neighborhoods, and a couple of businesses in which we did not get a license plate and all we had was a vehicle make and model and color. Many times, the individuals knew each other and refused to cooperate with identifying anyone. These shots fired were not just random incidents. I believe the incidents that Kevin McNamara was generalizing and commenting on … were the same shooting. We caught that individual a few weeks later; however, it was very hard to identify that suspect who was seen in a silver or white Cadillac with no license plate description. We have experienced some violent crime within the township, as well (couple of homicides), in which a camera system could have aided our investigative efforts with potentially capturing a suspect vehicle, license plate, or direction of travel. I hope this helps explain it better, and, yes, from time to time we have investigated a shots-fired call in which we could not identify a suspect or suspect vehicle, however, fortunately no one was hit or hurt.”] A viewer said online at the zoom meeting that he thinks the intersection cameras are a good idea and asked if the technology searched databases for information on the plate or does that have to be done manually?
McNamara’s assistant Dan Selman said there is technology to identify license plate numbers at speeds up to 80 mph. The quote of $287,149.21 is just a reference, since there are different things that can be included in the technology, Selman said.
Kevin Taylor of Axis Communications Intersection Solution, based in Atlanta, outlined the worldwide services of the company. Jason Hanse of Metro Detroit Integrated Systems showed the seven intersections in the township targeted for cameras to read license plate numbers:
• Ecorse Road/Haggerty Road
• Belleville Road/Van Born Road
• Haggerty Road/I-94 N. Service Drive
• Haggerty Road/I-94 S. Service Drive
• Belleville Road/I-94 N. Service Drive
• Belleville Road/I-94 S. Service Drive
• Rawsonville/S. Grove Road
McNamara said there is new technology that reads the license plates and Belleville is going to get that for their cars. “It’s cutting edge and could link with a database,” McNamara said.
Taylor said there is an option to link it to the NCIC national information center. “There are a lot of options,” he said, noting it could be streamed to a service for more powerful reading. He said in Ogden, Utah, there was a high-level criminal caught within days using this Recor service.
“We use videos every single day,” said Police Chief Wright, in explaining the use of videos. He said most retail stores have videos and what the township is presenting is just another way. He said this service provides outstanding clarity, adding store camera resolution sometimes is not clear. “We use videos all the time.”
Trustee Reggie Miller said surveillance plays a powerful role in safety for residents. She asked if the cameras could be paired with a weather station. She also asked the cost to maintain the system.
Taylor said the weather station idea was started up in Italy and basically turns the cameras into weather stations and alert them to dangerous situations on the roadways. As to the physical maintenance, there is no physical maintenance on the cameras. They have remote zoom and focus capabilities. The cleaning of the face or dome of the camera need to be done from time to time, but you don’t have to touch the equipment.
McNamara said he estimates maintenance of 5% a year, about $20,000.
Taylor said there are concerns by the public on surveillance and so a general policy should be drafted covering primary use, how long to store data, whether it can be shared and whether it is compliant with the Freedom of Information Act.
Chief Wright said the plan is to maintain data for 30 days and then write over it. He said after an incident, they would go to the data and retain it. They would not be holding a tremendous amount of data.
Trustee Kevin Martin asked if the cameras are motion-triggered. Taylor said they could be and in the past they were because of the storage cost. But now the cost has come down and there is a leaner data stream. He said they could look at motion-triggered.
Hanse said there is a hard-wire connection, 30 days retention and continuous recording.
Taylor said some of the incidents happen in broad daylight and some people look at the cameras and see them and do crimes where the cameras are.
“Our industry does not have a good reputation,” Taylor said. “Stores buy the least expensive, with poor images.” He said New Orleans excluded the concept of using the camera to deter or solve crimes and use it to save time and increase efficiency for emergency first responders.
Trustee Martin said this is a good idea for the township and a good tool for the Public Safety Department. He asked if the cameras will cover two lanes.
Paige Reid, manufacturing representative, said it could cover one to three lanes, depending on the lens size and video.
“It’s not going to stop crime,” McNamara said, adding when the yahoos flee to the freeway, the police will get their plate numbers.
Clerk Leon Wright said he fully supports the project and agrees it won’t stop crime, but it definitely will put a dent in crime, using high-quality equipment.
Trustee Donald Boynton concurred with Clerk Wright and Trustee Martin, adding he is quite familiar with the software from his previous employment.
McNamara said they have a quote and could put it out to bid and look at what the township wants and doesn’t want.