LIBERTY — Township trustees have approved adding six automatic license plate reading cameras for the police department.

Trustees have entered an agreement with the Flock Safety for the cameras, which will cost $17,500 for the first year and $15,500 for the second year to be paid from the township’s drug enforcement fund.

Flock Safety operates in 29 states, according to its website.

Officials said the automated license plate readers are high-speed, computer-controlled camera systems that typically are mounted on street poles. The devices automatically capture all license plate numbers that come into view, along with the location, date, and time. The data, which include photographs of the vehicle and sometimes its driver and passengers, then is uploaded to a central server.

Police Chief Toby Meloro said the cameras will serve as an “investigative tool” to help law enforcement locate a specific type of vehicle that may be involved in a crime or incident in the township.

He said, for example, if a specific color of vehicle is involved in a bank robbery in Liberty, that information can be placed into the computer, and the camera’s data can be reviewed for a specific type of vehicle.

Meloro said law enforcement always can benefit from the newest technology to help crack down on crime.

He noted he’s looking at seeking additional cameras in 2023.

Mark Finamore, an attorney who has been legal counsel for many area townships and communities, said these types of cameras, unlike others used to record speeding vehicles, are used to locate a specific vehicle by its license plate — should it be involved in an illegal activity, such as robbery or theft.

“This is a good thing for communities to have and makes locating a vehicle easier. This provides a shortcut for law enforcement to locate a vehicle and its license plate number and possibly even the person driving. With crime and road rages up in many communities, these cameras will be able to quickly allow law enforcement to locate a specific type of vehicle in the community involved in a crime or an incident,” Finamore said.

Finamore said the cameras are placed on poles on public property, so it is not an invasion of privacy. Speed cameras, by contrast, generally are held by a police officer.

Usually, police would have to get the security tapes or other camera videos — often from a private property — and go through several minutes of a video to find what is needed, get a vehicle number, and then enter it into an automated system to locate the vehicle.

Finamore said the license plate cameras can be accessed quickly with specific data to narrow down the search.

“This is a much quicker process. They are able to get a snapshot freeze of the license plate number,” he said.

Officials said the cameras are able to capture automatically all license plate numbers that come into view, along with the location, date and time. The data then is uploaded to a central server.

Officials said information collected can be used by law enforcement to find out where a plate has been in the past, to determine whether a vehicle was at the scene of a crime and to identify travel patterns. The information is able to be shared among law enforcement agencies.