City councilmember Edward Pollard has announced details of his plan to combat crime in District J, including the acquisition of Flock License Plate Reader (LPR) cameras.
At a recent press conference, Pollard was joined by representatives from the Houston Police Department command staff, Police Officers Union and management districts, as he laid out his plan for crime deterrents in his district, and the need for them.
“The only way to reduce crime is to have deterrents, and these license plate cameras should be able to deter, because if there’s one thing criminals do not like is to be on camera,” said Pollard.
In response to the uptick in crime in the city of Houston, Pollard allocated funds to HPD to purchase the LPR cameras. In addition, District J is engaging in a public/private partnership with management districts to fulfill a goal of installing 100 cameras in the district.
“We want to send a strong message that if you commit crimes and you ride through our district, we will see you, and we will catch you,” said Pollard.
The LPR cameras use license plate recognition technology to aid law enforcement in the prevention and solving of crimes. The cameras will be exclusively used in capturing still photographs to identify vehicle make, type, color, license plate, and other unique vehicle details. They are not capable of video recording or live streaming.
“We want people to know that we will be tracking every single car that comes through these intersections where we have the license plate cameras. And if it has been found that you have been involved in a crime with that vehicle, we will see you and we will be coming after you,” said Pollard.
The LPR cameras are in addition to Pollard’s expansion of the District J Patrol initiative by earmarking more funding for HPD’s Differential Response Team (DRT) officers. The District J Patrol team was formed in September 2020 and helps bridge the gap between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve. This public safety initiative includes neighborhood patrolling by the DRT, the use of four Polaris vehicles, and the District J Patrol Community Committee.
“We want to send a strong message to criminals that all eyes are on you,” said Pollard. “We are going to use every resource at our disposal to make sure residents and visitors to our great city feel safe and can work, live and play without threat to their property or their lives.”
