License plate reader credited with an assist in solving Vernon Hills burglary
Catching bad guys, locating stolen autos and finding missing persons are among dozens of successes Vernon Hills police say they've notched since installing 10 automated license plate readers in October 2020.
Those outcomes included good news for Dawn Levy, a professional photographer who last spring returned home from out of town to find her door ajar and the jamb in splinters. Equipment including a camera with images from a wedding were taken.
Police quickly located a pixilated image of the offender and his vehicle from a neighbor's Ring doorbell camera. It was matched in the license plate reader database, and the man was found to be in custody elsewhere on a driving offense.
"Imagine your photographer capturing the most important day of your life, and it's stolen," Levy recently recounted in a testimonial for the village board.
"Grateful isn't even the word. I couldn't believe it when they (police) said, 'We caught him. We have your cameras. We have everything,'" said Levy, who didn't think she'd get the stolen items back.
Recovering stolen property isn't a common outcome, according to Vernon Hills police Cmdr. Andrew Gillespie, who oversees investigations.
"I'm very proud of this case. I know the extreme difficulty that comes with these types of crimes," he told village officials during an overview of license plate-reading cameras.
"Only hard work and luck advances investigations but the automatic license plate reader gave us an advantage," he added.
Gillespie and police Chief Patrick Kreis recently updated the village board on the cameras and their use as some are being relocated from local to state roads.
"This technology has really helped us protect the community," Kreis said.
Vernon Hills, one of the early users of the technology, installed them on well-traveled local roads because permits from the Illinois Department of Transportation were expected to be delayed, according to Kreis.
"Finding the special sauce to get to the go line with IDOT just was solved a month ago," he said. Cameras will be relocated to spots where they'll be "much more successful at capturing images of license plates," according to Kreis.
Cameras are mounted on poles and powered by a solar panel connected to a cellular system. Collected images are compared to a "hot sheet" of vehicles that are wanted for some reason, such as being stolen, driven by someone wanted for a crime or when Amber or Silver alerts are issued.
He said the cameras are used in criminal investigations not "in any way, shape or form" for traffic enforcement or to generate revenue. Images are kept for 30 days and then "fall off" the database.
Gillespie said Vernon Hills police have documented at least 60 "significant successes" since the cameras were installed. For example. license plate readers have helped police recover 14 stolen autos, locate three missing persons and identify 39 wanted vehicles, including one tied to a person wanted in a murder in another community, he added.
"Today, ALPR is used in just about every case we investigate," he said.
Upgraded video systems installed last month in police cars also have license plate-reading ability and are connected to the system, Kreis said.
He told the village board he'll be requesting one more camera in the upcoming budget. That's a comfortable number because most neighboring communities are in the process of contracting with the same vendor and the systems will be able to share information, he added.
Mundelein, for example, is awaiting approval from Lake County and state officials to install 10 cameras. Vernon Hills, Mundelein and dozens of other communities have agreements with Atlanta-based Flock Safety.
In the last month, Barrington, Highland Park and Des Plaines have committed to purchasing Flock ALPR cameras.