The chief of Newtown Township Police, John Hearn, explained that cameras will be placed on the traffic signal arms at four of the busiest intersections in the area to search for criminals.
He mentioned that the cameras will be looking for wanted individuals, missing persons, stolen license plates, violations of Megan's Law, and people on terrorist watch lists by searching a database.
If a suspected individual is detected, the police will take action.
Once the data is flagged, the police will stop the vehicle if there is a legitimate reason to do so.
Newtown Township recently purchased a $151,000 advanced license plate recognition system, which will be installed at four intersections. These include Sycamore and Swamp, Newtown Bypass and Richboro Road, Newtown Bypass and Durham Road in Newtown Township, and Route 413 and Second Street Pike in Wrighstown Township.
According to Hearn, the cameras will capture the license plates of all vehicles passing through the intersections and identify those that are in the NCIC national criminal justice database. The system will also provide the vehicle's make, model, and color.
The cameras will monitor both lanes of traffic day and night, and will use high-power infrared illumination to accurately identify vehicles in low light and high-speed conditions.
Hearn stated that a federal grant received by Newtown Township police will fund the system's installation and operating expenses for the next five years.
The police will keep the images of license plates for a specific period.
Hearn explained that if there is no match, the data will be deleted after 30 days. However, if the license plate is flagged as unregistered, it will be retained for 60 days. In the case of a criminal investigation, the data will be kept indefinitely until the case is resolved.
