This week, the board of commissioners approved a contract with a company to install license plate readers at 11 intersections in the township through a company called PLATELOGIQ. The cost of the system is about $280,000 over five years.
Police Superintendent Chis Flanagan described the system as a new tool in their investigative toolbox.
"We're bringing what we think is technology and innovation to Radnor Township in our toolbox," Flanagan told the commissioners. "We want to add another layer to something that we don't have. We're requesting that you strongly consider and that you approve a license plate reader network for Radnor Township."
Sean Petty, CEO and founder of the company, said their motto is "detect more, prevent more."
"What we have found is that there are many criminals hiding in plain sight we may be passing every day, and we recognize that the more we can detect them and the more we can point them out to the folks that can affect some change, the more we can actually prevent more crime," Petty said.
According to Petty, a witness might tell police a robbery suspect fled in a blue pickup truck. Police could use the system to go back and pick out any blue pickup trucks that passed a camera during the specified time.
Radnor police Sgt. Chris Gluck said following a bank robbery earlier this year, witnesses told police a silver-colored Ford Explorer was last seen leaving the area.
At the time, they had nothing else to go on. However, Lower Merion had just installed the camera system near Lankenau Hospital. It captured the only silver Ford Explorer that passed that intersection.
Although it wasn't the right car, Gluck said it helped police determine the suspects traveled in a different direction.
Petty said there are two sides to their technology. On the one hand, police can use their computers to get real-time views and alerts for cars on hot lists such as stolen cars. The other side of their technology is that investigators can go back to review afterward to look for a vehicle that might have been involved in an incident.
Petty said they do not sell any of the data they receive and it is only accessible by police departments. He added that they do not do any facial recognition, and their cameras do not issue tickets to drivers like the red light cameras.
"There is no automated enforcement. We're not doing anything like that. Our system really is for crime solving — crime solving and enforcement of traffic violations ... and we don't have any ability to track anybody. If I wanted to track somebody in this audience, I would have no idea what their license plate number is. I can't go into the system and say, 'give me the license number of Joe Smith' and then see them bounce around on a screen like we see on TV," Petty said.
According to Petty, a car listed in its local police hot list would only remain there for 48 hours. If a police department believes a car's plate should be listed longer, they'd need to go through the National Crime Information Center that is managed by the FBI.
Gluck said the system would be installed on the most heavily traveled intersections in the township.
"This is not going to solve every single crime. There's no doubt about that. The point is to provide us with more technical leads. So our investigators are still going to be working. It's just hopefully going to be a more thorough — a much quicker investigation to get to an arrest if necessary," Gluck said.
According to information provided by Radnor, cameras are already being used in Lower Merion and Upper Merion. Tredyffrin and Marple townships are implementing a system that will be ready in the near future.
The commissioners approved adding the system.
©2022 Main Line Times & Suburban, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
