City of Sikeston to add license plate recognition technology on streets

SIKESTON, Mo. — New cameras placed at entry and exit points in Sikeston will help Sikeston Department of Public Safety track license plates.

On Feb. 27, the Sikeston City Council approved the purchase of two FLOCK Safety cameras to add to the city's existing city-wide camera infrastructure. The License Plate Reader (LPR) cameras will be placed at entry/exit points in Sikeston to help DPS with various investigations, city officials said.

The cameras capture computer-readable images of license plates, allowing law enforcement agencies to compare plate numbers against those of stolen cars or cars driven by people suspected of being involved in criminal activities.

The information provided by the system can help determine whether a vehicle was at a crime scene and discover cars that may be associated with each other.

The information is entered into the National Crime Information Center, a national database. Once the cameras are installed, Sikeston DPS will have access to all the Missouri FLOCK customers' databases, and all officers have to do is make a request to access FLOCK databases outside of the state.

Capt. Ryan Smith of Sikeston DPS said LPR cameras have been in some patrol cars for more than a decade and are beneficial in investigations.

Recently, newly installed FLOCK system cameras in Cape Girardeau were used help police locate a suspect with a felony warrant. When the car was stopped, a search led to officers finding another suspect hiding in the trunk who was also wanted on a felony warrant.

Smith said the cameras also helped solve a double-homicide in Sikeston earlier this year.

"We had very little to go on at first. The homicide happened at about 2:30 a.m.," Smith said. "(After) we developed a vehicle and a license plate, that vehicle was located on multiple FLOCK cameras in Atlanta, Georgia, which led us to the suspect and his subsequent arrest."

According to the website for FLOCK, www.flocksafety.com, more than 1 billion vehicles are captured per month by the cameras that are used by more than 2,000 law enforcement agencies, helping reduce crime by 70%.

Smith said if the budget allows, he would like to add more FLOCK Safety LPR integrated cameras across the city in the coming years to cover all the entry/exit points to the city.

Council members approved entering into a five-year agreement for the two cameras at a cost of $25,700, billed annually with the first payment being $5,700. The remaining years will be $5,000 per year, and the amount is covered by the current DPS camera budget.

"These cameras have been very beneficial to investigators," Smith said. "It's very good technology and we look to build this technology out as much as it allows in the future."