Newspaper Page Text
Page 8A
September 7, 2022
^Reporter
Signs of Big Brother in Monroe County? Not quite
By Steve Reece
stevereece@gmail.com
A lot of Monroe
County citizens are
wondering if Big
Brother has an eye on
us now that there have
been so far 21 license
plate recognition
cameras installed on
12' high poles through
out the county. The
cameras not only can
record tags on vehicles,
but they also store a
vehicle's build and
body type, make, color,
missing and covered
plates, bumper stickers,
decals, roof racks, and
more on cloud storage
for 30 days.
The county leases the
8.75" x 3" solar-pow
ered cameras known
as Falcon Flex that can
capture license plates
and vehicle attributes
of vehicles traveling up
to 100 mph at a maximum
distance of 100'. They use
passive infrared motion
detection and can issue
GCIC, NCIC, AMBER
Alert & custom notifica
tions within an average
of 10-15 seconds. The
cameras take a 3/4 angled
snapshot view of the back
of passing vehicles.
Monroe County Sheriff
Brad Freeman told the
Reporter when he was first
introduced to the system,
he wasn't really on board
with it because he felt like
it was another case of gov
ernment intrusion into our
lives but now is a strong
an automobile
in some form
or fashion.
Either it's
used to get to
the location
to commit or
flee from the
crime, or it's a
stolen auto
mobile or the
suspect is in
the car when
the crime is
committed. He
believes the
cameras will be
a great help in
locating stolen
vehicles.
Freeman
explained that
the cameras
aren't there to
track people.
They are there
only to notify
law enforce
ment that a
certain vehicle
is in the area. He added
that any information stored
in the database is irretriev
able after 30 days although
it can be downloaded dur
ing that time and saved as
evidence if needed as part
of a criminal investigation.
Freeman said that if they
decide that the cameras
are not working properly
or if they aren't satisfied
with their performance,
the county has the right
to break the contract with
Flock Safety (the camera
company) at any given
moment. The cameras are
hands-off for the county
with the camera company
Solar-powered tag recognition camera
installed at intersection of Estes Road and
Zebulon Road.
proponent of the cameras.
He said within in a matter
of seconds, his deputies
are alerted that a suspect
vehicle has passed a certain
camera location.
So far, no criminals
have been captured using
Monroe County cameras,
but Freeman said there
have been arrests made
due to the same cameras
installed in other counties.
All agencies that use the
system can immediately
share information. Nearby
Butts and Coweta counties
are also on the system, but
Bibb is not.
The sheriff said around
70% of all crime is tied to
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The sheriff said most of
the people in the county
think this is a great crime
fighting tool while others
think they are like speed
cameras and are revenue
generating devices which
they are not. He thinks
everyone will accept them
once they understand what
the cameras are doing.
He said these cameras
cannot determine what
speed a car is traveling or if
it ran a stop sign. They are
only there to locate suspect
vehicles. He added that the
camera can't tell who is in
the car unless their head is
hanging out the window.
He said it's also a great tool
to look up evidence in a
case if it is within 30 days.
If someone is kidnapped
or if there's a missing child,
the cameras could be an
invaluable aid to deputies.
It is possible to retrieve the
tag number from a vehicle
just by pulling up a list
of vehicles that match its
description.
If anyone has a concern
or question about the
cameras or would like to
have one installed in their
own neighborhood, Sheriff
Freeman invites them to
call the Monroe County
Sheriff's Office where they
will be happy to explain ev
erything in detail. There are
plans to install two cameras
within the city limits of
Forsyth in the future.
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