License Plate Readers Installed in Waynesboro

Since last week, social media has been blowing up with questions regarding the solar panel devices popping up around Waynesboro. What are they, and what are they to be used for? Lieutenant Jeremy Staggs of the Waynesboro Police Department explained exactly what these devices are.

As we reported in The Wayne County News last February, the City of Waynesboro applied for and was later granted a Violent Crime Intervention Grant to fund the purchase of an Automated License Plate Reading system (ALPR). This camera system is different than those in bigger cities which monitor speeding and even issue tickets.

Under the guidance of Lt. Staggs, the Waynesboro Police Department has so far installed two solar powered LPR cameras, one on Highway 64 near the Wayne County Public Library, and one on Highway 13 near the Sportsplex. The cameras are not hidden, but may not be considered readily noticeable unless you know they are there.

Lt. Staggs emphatically stated that the cameras WILL NOT be used for speed monitoring. They will be used to monitor license plates for detection of vehicles involved in crimes such as kidnapping. For example, when an Amber Alert is issued, the license plate of the vehicle suspected to be involved in the kidnapping is put out there for the public, and also put into a crime database. The license plate numbers that are registered by LPR cameras go into a database as well and are compared to the numbers in the crime database. When a match pops up, it alerts law enforcement to verify the make, model, and registered owner of the vehicle and its direction of travel. Flagged vehicles are usually then picked up by LPR cameras in different counties, providing law enforcement information on where the vehicle is headed or eventually in what area it stops.

“License plate reader cameras are invaluable in the event of crimes, especially violent crimes, when the suspect flees the location where the crime took place,” said Lt. Staggs. “We want all our citizens to know that these cameras are not hidden, as that would render them unable to pick up license plate numbers.

“The LPR cameras are a means of technology that your local law enforcement can use to help to protect our citizens,” continued Lt. Staggs. “People’s safety is and always will be our primary concern.”