Red Oak PD to receive license plate readers

RED OAK – To save the confusion, the Flock Safety license plate reader cameras that were recently approved by the Red Oak city council are not to be confused with red light cameras.

In fact, traffic signal enforcement systems better known as red light cameras are no longer permitted in the State of Texas as of June 2, 2019, and evidence from photographic enforcement systems are prohibited in Texas.

However, that is not the type of camera the Red Oak city council passed at its recent city council meeting.

“The cameras are not red light cameras or traffic cameras,” Red Oak Police Chief Garland Wolf explained. 

Council recently approved the terms of a grant for the Red Oak Police Department for up to $20,000 from the State of Texas Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority for the automated license plate readers that in short, assist law enforcement in catching criminals.

Wolf said, “The grant we received for stationary ALPRs or automated license plate readers allows for an autonomous reading of license plates in certain high traffic areas major arterial corridors where criminals both enter and exit the city. 

“This has the potential to help identify stolen cars, wanted persons, human trafficking suspects, catalytic converter thieves, hit and run accident suspects where information has been entered into a national database.”

If a camera reads a plate, it provides the owner information to the police department and the suspected issue or offense to all active units in the field on patrol. 

Red Oak Sergeant Cody McKinney said the automated license plate readers were brought to the attention of the Red Oak Police Department by the North Texas Auto Theft Task Force.

“We recently assigned an investigator part time with them. They told us about the grant program,” McKinney said. 

Red Oak PD will use this tool as another way to streamline data and make it more accessible to public servants. 

Wolf stressed, “This is not a big brother project, officers drive around running license plates all the time looking for wanted persons and other criminal offenses such as stolen cars. This just adds highly trafficked areas or a troubled location with an automated alternative.” 

In Texas, police officers can check license plates at any time for any reason.

Wolf explained, “Your license plate is in public view, so it is not by itself a search or seizure under the Fourth Amendment. In simpler words, it is not an invasion of privacy. Red light cameras capture violations generally at intersections, but the automated license plate readers are simply that and do not have to be located at intersections.”

The city is expected to utilize up to five of the devices within the next few months.

Red Oak was one of about 40 cities that were eligible for this particular type of grant.

“These cameras can be located at intersections, but we can’t and won’t issue citations off of these cameras since this is for data collection and field notification only,” Wolf concluded. “This automated process prevents someone from having to sift through all captured data. This technology affords us the same information we can get from running a license plate check via our in car computers. It simply automates the process at identified locations within the city.”