First license camera online in Wright City

Adam Rollins, Staff Writer
Posted 3/20/23

Wright City has installed the first of two smart cameras capable of identifying and tracking vehicle license plates and other identifying information.

The camera, provided through a contract with …

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First license camera online in Wright City

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Wright City has installed the first of two smart cameras capable of identifying and tracking vehicle license plates and other identifying information.

The camera, provided through a contract with security tech firm Flock Safety, automatically captures photos and information about passing vehicles, and uploads that data to a central database. The database is accessible to other law enforcement agencies that have a contract with Flock.

The smart camera has been mounted near the corner of Wildcat Drive and the I-70 North Service Road, with the intention of observing traffic coming into town from the I-70 interchange. Police Chief Tom Canavan said a second camera will eventually be installed at Wright City’s other I-70 interchange at Elm Street.

The two camera systems will cost Wright City $5,000 per year, plus a one-time setup fee of $700.

When the smart cameras detect a passing vehicle, they take a photo that is then analyzed by the Flock computer system. Information about the license plate number, type, color, and other features of the vehicle is automatically attached to the image, all of which is stored for 30 days.

If police receive a description of a vehicle involved in a crime, they can search the Flock database to quickly identify potential matches to the vehicle. Police departments that subscribe to the Flock network can also create “hot lists” of suspect vehicles that will generate automatic alerts when one of those vehicles is detected by any Flock camera in any city.

Even before the first Flock camera was installed in Wright City, Chief Canavan said the system had already been used at least once to help track down a vehicle in a neighboring city that was believed to be involved in a crime in Wright City.

In the first week that the new camera was installed, the system detected 11 “hot list” vehicles which had been flagged by various police agencies, according to data published on an automated transparency website maintained by Flock. According to Wright City Alderman Ramiz Hakim, one of the alerts helped in the recovery of a stolen vehicle, while another was related to an Amber Alert.

The transparency website is accessible through a link on the home page of Wright City’s main website, wrightcity.org.

Wright City Board of Aldermen, Smart camera, License camera, Wright City Police Department, Flock Safety

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