TRAVERSE CITY — Automatic License Plate Reader cameras are almost fully installed in three Grand Traverse County townships.
The ALPR camera installation by the Georgia-based company Flock Safety comes months after East Bay, Garfield and Peninsula Township boards approved the sheriff’s office proposal for this new technology.
In total, there will be 27 cameras throughout three townships with six in Peninsula, 14 in Garfield and seven in East Bay.
When township officials first approved the cameras in March and February, they were told they should be up and running by the beginning of this summer.
According to Garfield Township Supervisor Chuck Korn, they’re fully installed in his township.
“I know they [the sheriff’s office] were able to locate a suspect in a robbery, but it was several weeks ago,” Korn said. “They just said it worked very well. You know, they were able to put in a description of the car and the software automatically finds the photos that match that description.”
Peninsula Township Supervisor Isaiah Wunsch said he was still waiting on an update from the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office.
“I’ve not asked for a report on progress recently,” he said Friday afternoon. “So I’m not really sure. I know they were kind of going through the planning and diligences for installation a couple of months ago, but I’m not 100-percent sure that they’re up.”
In addition to capturing pictures of each license plate on the vehicles that drive by, these cameras also use something Flock Safety calls a “vehicle fingerprint.”
Company representatives previously said this technology will allow law enforcement personnel to search for vehicle make, type, color, license plate, state, covered plates, missing plates and any other atypical features, such as bumper…
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