The Oswego Police Department has been awarded a grant to help implement an automatic license plate reader system that is already in operation in other locations around Kendall County.
KenCom, the county’s 911 Emergency Public Safety Dispatch Center, last year contracted with a vendor to lease license plate reader cameras to be installed at various locations throughout Kendall County, according to Oswego officials.
Oswego Police Department staff members were part of the KenCom committee that implemented the license plate reader program, Oswego Police Chief Jeff Burgner said in a report to Oswego Village Board members.
The county’s devices have been up and running around Kendall County since September, he said.
The equipment can be used in real time to identify vehicles that are stolen or have been identified as suspect vehicles in different criminal activity, the police chief said.
Burgner earlier this year was authorized to sign a memorandum of understanding between the police department and the vendor, Flock Safety of Atlanta, in preparation for the rollout of the county’s automatic license plate reader system.
The police chief was authorized then to sign a resolution that establishes an intergovernmental agreement between the village, the KenCom Executive Board and Kendall County Emergency Phone Service and Communications Board for the program.
The Oswego Police Department needs its own personalized internet dashboard to request camera access from KenCom, village officials said.
KenCom is the owner of the license plate reader cameras in the county, and it needs to maintain access and credentials to its dashboard. A memorandum of understanding was needed so that Oswego could own and maintain a Flock Safety portal tailored to the village. Subsequently, the Oswego Police Department would be able to lease some cameras for the program, village officials said.
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The Oswego Police Department was notified in September that it had been awarded a $20,833 grant through the National White Collar Crime Center to lease four of the devices from Flock Group for two years, Burgner said. The police department applied for the grant a year ago.
The Village Board on Nov. 1 voted 5-1 to accept the funding. Burgner was also authorized to execute an agreement to lease four license plate readers from the Flock Group Inc for two years. Trustee James Marter voted against the measure.
The grant funding is set to run from October 2022 through October 2024.
“When the grant ends, the village will have the option of either having Flock Group Inc. remove the four devices or continue the funding for the devices at our own expense unless additional grant funding becomes available,” Burgner said.
Burgner gave presentations last fall and summer to gauge whether trustees had an interest in the use of license plate readers, which he said help police locate stolen vehicles and aid them with investigations.
The installation of the devices on village roadways will take approximately five to six weeks, the police chief said. The devices will be located at Douglas Road and Route 30, Douglas Road and Route 34, Boulder Hill Pass and Route 34 and Washington Street between Route 71 and Grove Road, he said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.