Jun. 7—The Effingham Police Department is looking to have traffic cameras installed at three city streets to help it identify vehicles linked to crimes and missing people.

During the Effingham City Council’s meeting Tuesday, Police Chief Jason McFarland asked council members to consider a two-year contract with Flock Safety for a total of six traffic cameras for an annual cost of $18,000 and an initial setup fee of $7,500. Flock Safety will be responsible for providing and maintaining all necessary equipment.

McFarland said several surrounding communities already use Flock Safety’s traffic cameras, including St. Elmo, Greenup and Casey.

“Flock Safety, if you’re not aware, is the primary vendor for automated license plate reading cameras in the state of Illinois,” McFarland said. “They’re in over 300 communities in Illinois alone.”

Each camera would cover two lanes of traffic, and McFarland recommends that two cameras be placed along North Keller Drive, South Banker Street and Fayette Avenue.

“When a vehicle drives by, it’ll take a picture of the back of the vehicle,” McFarland said. “It doesn’t capture faces. It doesn’t capture any identifiable information of the occupants.”

If the camera identifies a vehicle that is tied to a crime or missing person, officers would be alerted automatically.

“In the last two weeks alone and the weekends, we’ve had two incidents with stolen motor vehicles that this could have benefited,” McFarland said. “This is going to be a very good tool for us.”

McFarland clarified that his department won’t use the cameras to enforce traffic laws or invade the privacy of residents, and he said data from the cameras will be deleted after 30 days unless that data is flagged for retention.

“As a police chief, I can tell you I’m not a fan of big brother. I don’t like it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s the government’s business to know where I go. However, with this, we’re not retaining information.

“The data that’s collected belongs to us, so nobody else can get that without our permission. It can’t be sold to third parties.”

Additionally, McFarland said the city would have the option to utilize a “public-facing accountability board” that would track each inquiry made through the database.

“I know that this could be a hot button topic. However, I think it would be very beneficial to us in serving our community effectively to have this tool,” he said.

McFarland told the council he would expect the installation of the cameras to take about 90 days.

The council did not take any action on the proposed contract with Flock Safety Tuesday, but it is expected to vote on the matter during its next meeting which is schedule for June 18.

Effingham City Commissioner Merv Gillenwater was absent Tuesday.

Nick Taylor can be reached at nick.taylor@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300132.