More security cameras will be added along League City roads and in public places after an upsurge of vehicle break-ins at parks, according to Texas city officials. The city council recently approved an updated agreement with private security camera company, Flock Safety, to install an additional 28 cameras from a first instalment of 42, which was completed in August.
The cameras will cost the city $70,000 over the next five years, a cut in costs from a previous agreement which had the city paying $3,000 for each camera as part of a project to deter crime. The new agreement includes the use and installation of the 28 cameras: eight to be placed at city parks, and 20 to be installed at various roadways in response to an increase of break-ins at these locations, according to city agenda documents.
The automated licence plate reader cameras are designed to read and photograph the licence plates of vehicles leaving an area where a crime has been reported or suspected.
“There have been kind of a rash of break-ins at all of our city parks,” Mayor Nick Long said during the Dec. 12 meeting. Long cited a significant increase at Chester L. Davis Sportsplex because of its proximity to the highway. “We kind of have an obligation to make sure that when people use our facilities that their cars don’t get broken into,” he said.
The objective is to deter crime in those locations, Long said. According to League City Police Department Captain Harold Lee, Flock Safety announced that the price of ALPR cameras would increase in 2024 from $2,500 to $3,000. Because of the success of the ALPR program, the city moved to install 20 more cameras before the price increase, Lee said. Long included an additional eight for the parks as part of the agreement.
“Since first installing LPR cameras in League City, many residents have asked the city to install cameras closer to their side of town or nearer to their neighbourhoods,” he said. By expanding the Flock camera program, the city and police will be able to provide better coverage for more League City residents, Lee said. The installation of the cameras will begin in early 2024, according to Lee.
When the city wrapped up the installation of 42 cameras earlier this year, Lee said most of the public feedback was positive but that some people raised concerns about the potential misuse of the technology, the Chronicle reported.
