Vernon Hills plans to deploy 17 license plate reading cameras to combat organized retail crime
Vernon Hills police plan to deploy 17 automated license plate readers to target organized retail thefts at shopping centers.
Discussions with shopping center owners and representatives are ongoing but the cameras are expected to be installed in coming weeks, said police Chief Patrick Kreis.
"It's been a lot of work to get the correct authorization," he said.
"Fortunately, we have enough options to install 17 cameras. The big centers, Hawthorn and Mellody Farm, have been very supportive," he added.
Vernon Hills will receive $90,170 from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office that will cover the cameras as well as software and training to assist in processing evidence. Raoul's office is making the funding available to combat organized retail crime.
A top commercial hub in Lake County, Vernon Hills is a known target for retail thefts. Police say they are responding to a trend of more organized theft rings that result in higher losses for retailers.
"It was just common sense for us to acquire whatever tools we could to investigate these events," said Deputy Chief Shannon Holubetz.
Kreis has been an early and strong advocate of license plate readers to investigate crimes. The village has 11 ALPRs along state and local roads as well as one portable unit.
Thursday night, for example, police were alerted to a stolen vehicle in town. It was found parked in a shopping center lot while the driver was stealing inside a store, Kreis said. The driver and a passenger were arrested.
The cameras for shopping centers are identical to the ones on village streets under contract with Atlanta-based Flock Safety and will be connected to the same network. Police cars also have license plate-reading ability, Kreis said.
Cameras are connected to a cellular system. Collected images are compared to a "hot sheet" of vehicles tagged as stolen, driven by someone wanted for a crime or related to Amber or Silver alerts.