Bibb County to install license plate reading cameras on Macon streets, sheriff says
A new computer and camera system being installed by the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office will scan the license plate of every car on busy roads — and alert deputies if the car was involved in a crime locally or in other Georgia counties.
The sheriff’s office will install about 150 cameras with a $1.6 million grant, Sheriff David Davis said Thursday. The money will cover the program for three years.
The cameras from technology company Flock Safety read license plates and take photos of cars, then scan databases to check if a vehicle has been involved with crimes. Deputies are alerted only if the plate matches with a crime report in the database, a Flock spokesperson told the Telegraph earlier this year.
The cameras raised privacy concerns in other communities when they were installed. Davis, much like other agencies using Flock, said the cameras are used only for pre-existing crimes.
“Hardly anybody now, no matter where they are, is not on some type of camera or surveillance system,” Davis said of privacy concerns. “This will only be used in cases where we have a drive-by shooting, an armed robbery, where you have an Alzheimer’s patient who is missing.”
The cameras are prevalent in multiple nearby Middle Georgia areas, including Monroe and Houston counties. Monroe Sheriff Brad Freeman told the Telegraph earlier this year that Flock cameras had been effective for their office.
A display of probable locations at the Bibb sheriff’s office estimated a heavy concentration along busy roads such as Eisenhower Parkway, as well as a few cameras likely scattered on the outskirts of Macon in south Bibb.
It was unclear how soon the cameras might be installed.
While there is no official contract between Flock and the sheriff’s office yet, Flock operates on a subscription basis with other counties and has details in their contracts saying when data must be deleted, who can access data and other information.
The $1.6 milllion grant for the cameras, part of $83 million distributed Thursday by Gov. Brian Kemp’s office, comes in addition to the Bibb sheriff’s office receiving over $55 million of the Macon-Bibb consolidated budget this year. It is projected to receive more than $56 million next year in Mayor Lester Miller’s proposed 2024 budget.
“Quite honestly, we were going to get the cameras regardless... The county officials said they would help us if we did not get the grant, but now that we’ve got the grant that puts a plus-plus on it,” Davis said. He said potential camera money from the county can now be used elsewhere.
Money for other counties
More state grant money also went towards funding for several other Middle Georgia cities, including:
- Perry receiving roughly $1.5 million for new technology and equipment
- Baldwin County’s board of commissioners receiving more than $500,000 for officer training and sheriff’s office equipment
- Gray Police Department receiving more than $500,000 for equipment and patrol vehicles
- Dublin receiving more than $1.2 million for new equipment, including new tasers
The full list of grants can be found online at the governor’s office website.
This story was originally published June 9, 2023 at 1:19 PM.