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Ross to install license plate scanning cameras
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Ross to install license plate scanning cameras

Ross City Council has agreed to run a pilot program to install number plate reading street cameras.

Police Chief Raffaello Pata made a presentation to council on Nov. 14 about a proposal to place devices in eight locations in an effort to combat crime. The board directed staff to continue the program.

Mayor Bill Kircher said four other jurisdictions in the county use the equipment and others are considering it.

“The cameras will enhance the Police Department’s ability to both deter potential crimes and apprehend perpetrators,” he said. “Number plate information captured by the readers is automatically compared in real time with information about vehicles involved in serious crimes or missing persons.”

The devices are called automatic number plate readers. Tiburon, Sausalito, San Rafael and Novato have implemented the technology, while San Anselmo and Larkspur are evaluating it, according to a Pata staff report.

“ALPR technology has proven to be an effective prevention and investigation tool in the UK since 1976,” Pata wrote. “Law enforcement agencies in the United States began using ALPR technology in the early 2000s.”

“Communities with ALPR systems have reported crime reductions of up to 70 percent,” he wrote. “In some areas, they included a 60 percent reduction in non-residential burglaries.”

The estimated cost of leasing a system is $25,200 for the first year and $24,000 for the second year. The purchase price would be about $52,000 plus about $3,800 per year.

“Staff will need to go back to council for authorization to execute a contract with the vendor and to seek council approval for a budget allocation,” City Manager Christa Johnson said.

Home burglaries in Ross have increased from two crimes in 2020 to eight so far this year, according to Pata. The city had 13 cases of grand theft in 2020 and nine so far this year. One vehicle theft was reported in 2020 and five this year.

Locations for the cameras will include Sir Francis Drake Boulevard at the city limits; Winship Avenue at Garden Road; Laurel Grove near Winding Way; Lagunitas Road at Ross Common; Poplar Avenue at Kent Avenue; Sir Francis Drake Boulevard near Ross Terrace; and Lagunitas Road at Glenwood Avenue.

The devices are motion-activated cameras that take static images of license plates. The system does not record personally identifiable information.

The system is connected to the National Crime Information Center, a state database for wanted or stolen vehicles and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s AMBER Alert database. The acronym stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response.