License plate recognition cameras will help track vehicle after a crime

After working hard to get the funds without burdening the taxpayer, White County Sheriff’s Office is excited to begin working with their new Flock Safety cameras, called the License Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras. The cameras are placed throughout the county to assist the sheriff’s office in identifying vehicles associated with criminal activities.

Capt. Nate Theiss has been involved with acquiring these cameras for some time. At first, the sheriff’s office and City of Sparta Police Department worked together to get cameras placed on Bockman Way for both law enforcement entities. Now that they have gotten introduced to the technology, Capt. Theiss just needed to get the funds for cameras across the county.

“We were selling surplus stuff,” Capt. Theiss said. “Old holsters, coffee makers, old laptops, tablets, metal detectors, anything that we did not need anymore. All of that will cover these cameras, so it doesn’t cost the taxpayer anything.”

Capt. Theiss then explained the way the cameras operate, what they can and cannot do, and the balances in place to protect citizen’s rights to privacy.

“So, if there’s someone that’s driving a car after a crime, like a missing person’s case, stolen vehicles, or something like that, the Flock camera will tag that license plate,” he said. “Then, we can go in there and follow where the car is going. Even if it’s just a domestic, like a burglary, the camera would let us know which direction they’re going. And if we don’t pick up their license plate on one of the cameras, that also lets us know because it means they didn’t go in any of these directions.”

Captain Theiss continued by explaining, “It doesn’t identify you. You can’t do that because of someone’s rights to privacy, right? So, there’s checks and balances to it. We have three certifications you have to get before I can give them access to the system. That way, it’s not just anybody looking at this stuff. They are trained, certified deputies.”

Sheriff Steve Page is confident the new system will be a huge benefit to the department.

“It’s a very valuable tool to combat crime all throughout the county, and Nate [Theiss] has worked really hard to get these.”

The sheriff’s office has 12 of the new LPR Flock cameras, as well as the ones they have in collaboration with the City of Sparta police. Both Sheriff Page and Capt. Theiss are excited to train officers to use the new equipment responsibly, and they are proud that it was acquired without charge to the taxpayer.