EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — East Cleveland is now in the midst of using a license plate reader system in an effort to reduce crime and hopefully reduce the need for potentially hazardous police chases.
East Cleveland Police Chief Scott Gardner told News 5 that his city was involved in 105 police chases in just the first 120 days of 2022. Gardner said he's in favor of the test run on the license plate reader system provided by Flock Safety. The system was paid for with grant money issued to East Cleveland.
East Cleveland Councilman Nathaniel Martin agrees the system shows promise in curtailing crime and the need for police pursuits.
“We’re trying everything we can to prevent unnecessary chases, especially for minor traffic offenses," Martin said. “We’re trying it, we will evaluate it, and in about 6 months to a year we’ll know if we want to continue to have it or not.”
“It will pinpoint that exact type of car in a crime. We want the police to not chase unnecessarily, so with the technology, it helps us to do that. I can guarantee that it’s not obtrusive to privacy. If you’re doing the right thing if you’re driving and you have the right paperwork you’re okay."
Holly Beilin, Flock Safety Public Relations spokesperson, told News 5 that their license plate reader system has been effective in other cities and communities.
“When a vehicle passes, it takes a quick still picture of the license plate," Beilin said. “We know from the International Association of the Chiefs of Police that seven in 10 crimes are actually committed with a vehicle.”
“We have seen communities and agencies report that they have had less need to use sometimes dangerous pursuits because they know that they’ll get the investigative evidence in the form of that picture of the license plate.”
But East Cleveland Councilwoman Patricia Blochowiak doesn't believe the license plate reader is a good idea since it takes data on every car on the road, data that could be the subject of a data breach that could hurt innocent residents. Blochowiak is also concerned the system could produce misreads causing police to pull over innocent drivers.
“I was not for it from the beginning," Blochowiak said. “If it were just aimed at somebody they were chasing and they were concerned had done some horrible crime, that’s one thing. But when it’s everybody going down the street, we’ve already gotten complaints that people are being stopped and are being accused of being somebody they aren’t.”
Blochowiak said she'd rather see East Cleveland pass legislation similar to a law she said is having an impact in Philadelphia, which limits traffic stops for minor offenses.
“The law stops the police from stopping people for minor offenses, for example, people are stopped because they have one headlight out, Blochowiak said. "With fewer traffic stops, there will be fewer police chases. So let’s try to decrease that anxiety by decreasing the number of stops. We need to stop the high-speed chases, we need to stop them now, we must.”
Blochowiak said she hopes to have the Philadelphia-inspired legislation up for a vote at East Cleveland City Hall later this summer.
