HOPE – Traffic coming into Hope from both the north and the south will soon be under surveillance by state-of-the-art crime prevention cameras.
The Hope Town Council agreed to purchase and maintain one Flock camera on a two-year contract.
The camera will be placed at the intersection of State Road 9 and County Road 500N, which goes by Miller’s Merry Manor and the Schaefer Lake Dam on its way to Hartsville, Town Marshal Matt Tallent said.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department has already installed a Flock camera at the junction of State Road 9 and County Road 900N, which takes images of southbound traffic a mile-and-a-half north of Hope.
Law enforcement officials credit that Flock camera in the June 1 apprehension of Robbie Perez, accused of shooting his 36-year-old brother and 3-year-old nephew in Hope. The camera also led to the recovery of three stolen vehicles in two months, Tallent said.
The cost for the new camera will be $3,000 annually for a minimum of two years, plus a $650 installation fee, Tallent said. The total purchase of $6,650 will be financed through the town’s local income tax public safety fund, the marshal said.
With the use of artificial intelligence, Flock cameras can capture still images of every vehicle that comes into view. The images are uploaded to a cloud server, and police are alerted when the cameras catch vehicles flagged for suspected involvement in a crime.
Even in the dark at a sizable distance, images from Flock cameras can get the license plate number, state where the plate was issued, vehicle color, make, model, roof racks and even bumper stickers. The date and time of the image is recorded, as well as how many times the vehicle has passed by the cameras over the past month.
Tallent’s original request presented on July 18 called for two Flock cameras, with one positioned on State Road 9 with County Road 600N to the west and Hauser Drive to the east. But the cost for two cameras prompted council members to ask the marshal to find an alternative funding source or modify his request.
There are currently 19 Flock cameras locally. Ten were purchased by the Columbus Police Department while nine were acquired by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department.
All funds used to pay for the cameras comes from drug seizure money, the agencies said.
