License-plate-reading cameras coming soon to Paxton



PAXTON — Paxton Police Chief Coy Cornett told the city council last week that the installation process was under way for license-plate-reading cameras in Paxton.

In January, the council approved spending $22,600 under an initial two-year contract with Atlanta-based Flock Safety for the installation and maintenance of four such cameras, the first of which is being installed at the intersection of Stockholm Road and Illinois 9 (Pells Street) on the city’s east edge.

Others are expected to be installed on the north end of town on U.S. 45 by the police department headquarters and on the west end of town on Ottawa Road around the Interstate 57 interchange.

Another was to be put up on the south end of town on U.S. 45 by Green Street, but Cornett said there have been some issues with obtaining the necessary permit from the Illinois Department of Transportation for that one due to the steepness of the slope of the ditch on the side of the road where it is proposed to be installed.

“So they’re trying to figure out another location for it,” Cornett said. “Hopefully, we have everything up and running and ready to go by the end of May.”

The motion-activated, solar-powered cameras will take photos of the rear of each passing vehicle, including every rear license plate, and alert on-duty police within seconds whenever one appears in criminal databases as being associated with a crime, for example, or a missing or wanted person.