Jan 25, 2023

Great Bend still discussing license plate readers to be installed

Posted Jan 25, 2023 10:00 PM

By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post

Last June, the Great Bend City Council had a discussion about a city-wide surveillance camera system and license plate readers for the Great Bend Police Department. In the end, the council decided the surveillance had value but wanted to prioritize other city projects.

Earlier this month, Great Bend Network Administrator James Cell said he is still having conversations with police department staff to place the plate readers throughout town to provide alerts for stolen vehicles or vehicles driven by people suspected of being involved in criminal activity.

"The software should allow us to follow vehicles toward Indiana, Texas or Mexico," said Cell. "Any department or municipality that has the same software solution, we can tag on with them. If something happened and we were trying to catch that vehicle, we can track them out to certain locations."

Last summer, Police Chief Steve Haulmark said more than 10,000 vehicles travel across 10th Street each day. The plate readers are capable of searching for vehicles based on paint color or if they have damage.

During the work session the city also discussed smart cameras positioned around town that would include face and vehicle recognition capabilities to help deter, track and solve crime.