Bartholomew County Sheriff Dept. cameras to scan license plates on highways

BARTHOLOMEW CO. –  A new type of traffic camera will be reading the license plates of every vehicle entering Bartholomew County on Interstate 65 and U.S. 31, after the under County Commissioners approved a contract with Flock Safety Monday.

However, the county commissioners promise not to use the devices for traffic enforcement such as writing speeding tickets.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department will purchase four cameras at a cost of $11,000. The cameras have the ability to read license plates and quickly process those against a database to alert deputies with various pieces of information, such as the plate of a stolen vehicle, or a vehicle suspected in a child abduction or missing persons case. That information would be processed within moments and then forwarded to on-duty deputies via a computer program in their vehicle.

The cameras will be positioned to survey the north and south entrances to the county on U.S. 31 and Interstate 65. If successful, the county could add more cameras at other strategic locations.

The county will have a 60-day trial period with the cameras and then a full year contract.