The Monte Sereno City Council on Jan. 21 endorsed a plan to install 20 automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs. Monte Sereno is the last city in the West Valley to officially adopt the new technology.
Several Bay Area cities have installed ALPR cameras to help law enforcement agencies solve crimes. The Monte Sereno council first discussed the matter at its Jan. 7 meeting, and by the end of the month endorsed an installation plan after clarifying the logistics on the potential for lawsuits against the city due to the cameras.
Monte Sereno’s ALPRs will enhance coverage from the 17 cameras installed in Los Gatos, which borders the small city, Councilmember Bryan Mekechuk said.
“On a street like Rose Avenue, for example, you can have a house that is in the city of Monte Sereno and the house next to it can be in the town of Los Gatos; it’s not a straight line,” he said.
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Monte Sereno will execute an agreement with Flock Safety Group – the same ALPRs company that Los Gatos contracted – to install and maintain 19 automatic license plate readers plus an additional mobile camera for $132,350. The council voted to delay the official installation and activation of the cameras until July 1 to allow the city to use monies from an annual state grant to help fund the project.
Community members and council members alike were supportive of the ALPRs’ installation. Resident Mike Wood said they would help provide “much broader coverage in terms of safety.”
“Given that the citizens are in favor of this, we haven’t heard anything negative about it, I think we should go ahead and move on this,” Councilmember Lisa Shannon said at the meeting.
Mekechuk said several residents have already installed privately owned and managed ALPRS. Resident Kevin Evans, who helped install two cameras in his neighborhood a few years ago, said he was happy to see Monte Sereno plan to acquire even more ALPRs.
“I think it’s great,” Evans said. “From our standpoint, it just adds to the security.”
