Look out, lawbreakers: Wheeling inks 5-year deal for license plate-reading cameras
Cameras that record the license plates of passing vehicles and can analyze features of those autos that are sticking around in Wheeling.
The village board on Monday approved a five-year, $100,000 contract with Atlanta-based Flock Safety for its license plate recognition services.
The village purchased eight Flock cameras in 2022 as part of a one-year deal that expired Nov. 30. The cameras are movable and can be placed wherever police think they're needed, Village Manager Jon Sfondilis said.
Flock gave the village two options for a new deal: a two-year contract that would cost $24,000 annually or a five-year contract that would run $20,000 annually.
Trustees chose the latter without public discussion or opposition Monday.
No additional camera purchases are part of the contract, Sfondilis said.
Flock cameras take pictures of passing autos and their plates. The information in the pictures - a manufacturer, model or color, and distinguishing features or marks - can be used to help police find vehicles used in crimes.
Departments using Flock camera systems share data, and the system alerts participating departments when a car suspected of being used in a crime passes a camera.
They also can be used in other ways, such as helping to find missing people.
More than 3,600 Flock cameras have been installed nationwide, according to a memo from Wheeling Police Chief Jamie Dunne. An estimated 120 agencies or businesses in northern Illinois have purchased the systems, Dunne wrote.
Police in Vernon Hills, Schaumburg and Roselle are among those that have installed Flock systems in their towns. Readers also are installed along Chicago-area expressways and at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, among other locations.
Mundelein police are awaiting state and county approval to install cameras. Des Plaines police plan to use them as well.