PWPD to install cameras throughout city next month

Three Flock cameras, which capture information about vehicles traveling along a community’s streets, should be installed in Port Washington by early March, Police Chief Kevin Hingiss told the Police and Fire Commission Monday.

The cameras cost $2,500 annually, and the department received a donation to fund two of the cameras from the Port Lions Club, which Hingiss said last month would be placed on the city’s north and west sides.

Hingiss told the commission that the Port Rotary Club has agreed to contribute $1,000 toward the third camera.

“I’m finding it in my budget to make up the difference (in cost for the third camera),” he said. “We’re going to have three cameras.”

The cameras have been in use in neighboring communities for years and they’ve proven their worth, Hingiss has said. Among the communities with Flock cameras are Grafton, Mequon, Menomonee Falls and Germantown.

Grafton has a number of the cameras around its east side shopping district, Commission Chairman Rick Nelson said last month.

“They’re big targets,” Hingiss said, referring to the many big-box stores in that area.

Flock cameras capture information about vehicles, not their driver, and can be used to trace vehicles linked to crimes.

The information recorded by the cameras creates what is referred to as a vehicle fingerprint — information that includes the make and model of vehicles, color and license plates, even if a vehicle is traveling as fast as 100 mph and is 75 feet away, according to the company’s website.

The information is stored in the “cloud” but erased after 30 days, although Hingiss noted there are ways to save the data if it is needed in a case.

Hingiss said the department will likely sign a letter allowing other communities to look at the information from the city’s cameras — something virtually all of the other communities have done.

“A lot of the theft, it’s usually groups of criminals and they’re going from city to city,” he said, making the cameras an important tool for all law enforcement agencies in the area.