​Plate Readers Deployed To Aid West Covina Police

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

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WEST COVINA – The West Covina Police Department announced the deployment of automated license plate reading cameras throughout the city.

The West Covina City Council Approved the purchase of 30 automated license plate reader cameras from Flock Group, Inc., an Atlanta, Georgia-based company to the tune of $157,500, according to West Covina City Council documents.

“We have seen an increase in property crime to include stolen vehicles,” according to Cpt. Ken Plunkett of the West Covina Police Department during a March 16 city council meeting. “Additionally, vehicles are most oftentimes associated with reported crimes and serve as a means to identify and prosecute potential suspects.”

One goal of implementing the cameras is to mitigate bias in policing. The cameras do not use facial recognition software and can only read license plates, which can help police with investigative leads, Plunkett said.

The cameras can be solar powered, or wired to another electrical source. The cameras take still photos when reading a license plate across two lanes of traffic and apparently do not record video. They can photograph up to 45,000 plates per day and can capture license plates on vehicles moving up to 100 miles per hour.

Data is reportedly stored for 30 days and then is erased from the system.

The city approved a two-year lease agreement with Flock to use the cameras. If data within those two years shows the cameras to be a success, the city would have to consider spending cash from the city’s general fund to use the cameras beyond the lease.

Plunkett cited data from neighboring Covina, which also implemented Flock cameras and in just two months of deploying the system, Covina Police recovered 14 stolen vehicles and made 22 arrests.

Azusa Police officers were able to recover 16 stolen vehicles, Plunkett said.

The nearly $158,000 in funding was acquired through federal asset forfeiture funds.