The Salem City Council has approved the lease of four FLOCK license plate readers for the next two years.
The move was opposed by Centralia resident Mike Musick, who worked with a company before retirement involved with Missouri Department of Transportation roadside cameras.
“It’s too much,” Musick said. “The percentage of crimes solved versus the number of individuals whose mobility is tracked in detail in coming and going—I’m uncomfortable with it.”
But Salem Police Chief Todd Boles says they are only recording license plate numbers, not people, and the data will be housed and only kept for 30 days by the Salem Police Department. He says the crime-solving stats are significant.
“Ten percent doesn’t sound like a lot, but we have about 604 crimes year-to-year. If we solve ten percent more, it will be sixty more. I will say also, it’s not just about catching criminals. We used it numerous times and probably saved people’s lives. We have people that are suicidal, somebody calls and says they left in their vehicle and said they were going to kill themselves, no idea where they’re going. If you put the plate in, and immediately, as soon as they hit a camera, we’ll know where they’re at.”
The Salem Police Department has received a $12,000 grant to pay for the cameras the first year and are eligible for another grant next year. The FLOCK system will allow for license plate information to also be obtained from other cameras on the system, including Centralia and Marion.
Councilman Gerald Molenhour wanted to table the issue for two weeks to investigate concerns cited by Musick. However, he could not get a second on his motion. Molenhour then voted no against the camera lease.
