City Council approved an Oxford Police Department (OPD) plan Tuesday to install an automatic license plate reader system on Route 73 to decrease serious crime in Oxford.
The project, funded by the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, will give OPD $50,000, according to OPD Chief Stephen Schwein.
The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, named after a police officer killed in the line of duty, falls under President Barack Obama's American Recovery and R investment Act of 2009 which allows state and local governments to prevent and control crime by funding various activities, according to the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Schwein said Oxford has already been notified it will receive the grant, but an application process is required before the money is granted to the city.
Oxford agreed to a joint-application for the grant with several cities in Butler County including Hamilton, Fairfield, Middletown, Monroe, Fairfield Township, West Chester Township and Lemon Township, Schwein said.
The tracking system consists of a camera that records license plate numbers entering and exiting Oxford, Schwein said. The system, linked to a national database of wanted cars, provides law enforcement officers with a faster method of identifying law violators, Schwein said.
One camera will be installed at a fixed post on the south side of Oxford's city limits, near the site of the new Talawanda High School, Schwein said.
Schwein said the national database collects license plate numbers for minor incidents such as parking violations as well as major incidents like identifying child molesters.
The system benefits a community because it instantly sends messages to the police station, to officer's cars and even to their cell phones notifing law enforcement of the identified car, Schwein said.
"The primary use for it is to let you know right then and there when somebody is coming into town that's wanted someplace or is dangerous to the community," Schwein said.
In January 2006, a "stranger rape" occurred on North Campus Avenue and the rapist was not caught right away. Three months later, Connorsville, Ind. police reported a rape and the DNA samples from that rape matched the Oxford rape. Schwein said if this system were put in place at that time, OPD could have looked at Indiana license plates coming in and out of Oxford and may have provided information about the attacker, Schwein said.
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
City council members expressed concerns including how intrusive the camera system could be, but decided it would be beneficial to control major crime.
"I can really see the benefit of it in terms of amber alerts ... I see it as a benefit to have that kind of instant alert system to people coming through the area," councilor Kate Currie said.
Schwein said in the future, he would like to see cameras installed at two or three other main entrances into Oxford.
"The use of technology in law enforcement is coming," Schwein said.
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.