New cameras would provide enhanced surveillance

City Council continued discussion on the addition of Flock Cameras at the April 16 Safety Committee meeting.  A representative from Flock gave a presentation on the Falcon and Condor cameras.

The current Falcon cameras are part of a motion-activated system that takes two pictures of each vehicle.  One picture is of the entire back end of the vehicle, allowing for vehicle type recognition.  The other picture is a close up picture of the license plate.  The system runs the plates through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which is a database that shows active warrants, stolen vehicles and AMBER alerts.  A car make and plate can also be added that would be of special interest, such as a robbery.  The information is held in the cloud for a thirty-day period.  The information retrieved by the systems could be accessible to other law-enforcement agencies, even if they are not currently utilizing the system in their own jurisdictions.  Those  ten cameras cost the City $28,500 the first year, then, a recurring $25,000 yearly.  The initial lease contract was approved for a two-year period.  An additional five-year lease, with a two-year option was then approved for $25,000 yearly and was adopted in November 2023.

North Royalton Police Chief Keith Tarase proposed the addition of five cameras to the City’s ten Flock Falcon cameras at the March 20 Safety Committee meeting.  North Royalton City Council had approved the lease of ten Flock cameras in December, 2022. Two of the cameras he is requesting would be the same plate-reading cameras to be added to the ten cameras already in place.  Three of Flock cameras would be Flock Condor cameras, which are full surveillance, remote-controlled, live and recorded on-scene video cameras, for the intersection of Ridge Road and Rt. 82, Wallings and State Roads and the York Road ball fields.  He asked for a two-year lease on the added five cameras, at a cost of $20,050 for the first year and $15,000 for the second year.

The Condor camera provides all levels of the DORI Distance rating, an industry standard that defines the amount of detail the camera provides, depending on the size of the lens.  According to Flock, “this is a measure of the distance that our camera will be able to pick up specific levels of data.”

– Detection – The detection level allows for reliable and easy determination of whether a person or vehicle is present. (From 391.2 ft to 8120.1 ft.)

– Observation – The observation level gives characteristic details of an individual, such as distinctive clothing, while allowing a view of activity surrounding an incident. (From 156.5 ft to 3248.0 ft.)

–  Recognition – The recognition level determines with a high degree of certainty whether an individual shown is the same as someone that has been seen before. (From 78.2 ft to 495.0 ft).

– Identify – The identification level enables the identity of an individual beyond a reasonable doubt. (From 39.1 ft to 812.0 ft.)

Ward 6 Council Rep Mike Wos asked a question regarding a section of the Ohio Revised Code regarding “traffic law photo-monitoring devices.”  North Royalton Law Director Tom Kelly responded by saying that the law did not apply to these types of cameras.  He went on to explain that the cameras in the ORC are “expressly crafted to enforce traffic law. . . They are not for traffic enforcement.  They don’t meet the same criteria.”

Council President Paul Marnecheck said he would like the City to look into purchasing a camera for the York Road field area, as the City has done for Memorial Park.  He said that it would at least give the City a choice to compare other options.  He went on to ask about the Condor’s live monitoring, if placed into the two intersections, how it would impact the work flow and work load of the Police Department.  He also asked about public records implications.  “ I have concerns that the City could be dragged into numerous private car accident investigations and other matters because we have a live video feed camera at State and Wallings with pan, tilt, and zoom capabilities.    I am also concerned about who will have access to this information, and I worry about possible data breaches, the videos being misused, and the videos being stolen. Plus, I am a little concerned if the company we select is bought or merges with another company.”

When asked why he chose the two particular intersections, Tarase indicated that there was increased activity.  Police reports for the areas surrounding the two intersections were requested for the past two years, but only a count was provided for all of Wallings Road and State Road.  Information for the Rt. 82/Ridge intersection was not provided.  The information was received, as follows:

Calls for Wallings Road, 2022

CCW 1,  Drugs: Abuse 1,  Fraud 1,  OVI 1 OVI MVA – Injury 1,  Suspicious Vehicle 1, Theft from Auto 1

Calls for Wallings, 2023

Breaking and Entering 2,  Drugs: Abuse 1

Kidnaping 1,  Shoplifting 2,  Traffic Stop 2

Calls for Wallings, 2024

General Assist 1,  Theft 2,  Theft Shoplifting 2

State Road 2022

Fraud 1,  OVI 1,  Suspicious Vehicle 1,  Theft 1,  Theft From Auto 2,  Traffic Stop 2

State Road 2023

OVI MVA – Injury 1,  Theft From Auto 2

Theft from Building 1,  Traffic Stop 3

Vandalism 1

State Road 2024

Theft in Progress 1,  Traffic Stop 1

Council decided to request legislation for the two plate reading cameras discussed.  Several Council members said they wanted time to digest the information regarding the Condor cameras.  Legislation for the Falcon cameras is expected to be introduced at the May 7 City Council meeting.