Klickitat County Sheriff Proposes License Plate Reading Cameras
By Cole Goodwin
Lyle, WA, September 21, 2023 – The Lyle Community Council heard a proposal from Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer and Undersheriff Carmen Knopes about the potential of installing license-plate reading cameras throughout the county at the council’s Sept. 13 meeting.
Songer presented the idea of installing automatic license plate reading (ALPR) camera systems from Flock Safety throughout Klickitat County.
Flock Safety, uses vehicle fingerprint technology to turn hours of footage into a searchable database, even when license plates are not visible. This technology allows law enforcement to search vehicle type, make, color, license plate state, missing and covered plates and other unique features such as bumper stickers, decals, and roof racks to identify vehicles.
The cameras are solar powered and LTE connected, meaning they can be installed almost anywhere in the County that has cell service.
The ALPR devices can also provide real-time alerts to law enforcement when a vehicle that is stolen or associated with a known suspect is detected. Some ALPR systems are also capable of integrating with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s AMBER Alert system, sending real-time alerts to officers in seconds.
“It’s strictly for crime fighting. It’s not facial recognition or anything like that. They would be installed in high crime rate areas where we have a lot of theft going on,” said Songer.
“I’m a Constitutional Sheriff. I would not buy into this Flock business at all if I thought it was going to infringe on citizens' rights at all,” said Songer. “It’s a win win.”
Flock reports that this technology can significantly cut down on law enforcement investigation time and reports crime reductions of up to 70% in the communities in which it has been installed.
The County Sheriff’s Office would own the footage, and all data would be encrypted and deleted every 30 days. Each camera would cost taxpayers $2,500 a year.
Songer said he expects that the camera installation project to begin fairly soon, maybe even within the next month, although the timeline may be impacted by a number of other factors.
Posse Scouts
In other business, Songer also presented on the Sheriff’s Office Posse Scouts program. The program states that it will train youth in understanding the Washington State and U.S. Constitutions, firearm safety, traffic control, crowd control, theft prevention/principles of neighborhood crime watch, providing event security, CPR, the criminal justice system and other subjects relating to law enforcement. Posse Scouts may also take a patrol ride-along for insight into what patrol deputies do on a daily basis.
For more information about the program click here.
Photo of Sheriff Bob Songer from KlickitatCounty.org.
Some County residents have raised concerns over the content of Songer-approved trainings on the Constitution in the past due to Songer’s affiliation with the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), which claims that “the power of the sheriff even supersedes the powers of the President.” According to the “constitutional sheriffs'' ideology, county sheriffs can use their personal discretion to pick and choose which federal and state laws to enforce within their counties.
