Richmond County deputies seek more anti-crime cameras
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - You might have seen cameras at busy intersections in Augusta with little solar s on top.
Those aren’t just traffic cameras. They’re Flock cameras meant to assist local law enforcement with keeping you safe.
And with their success, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is on the prowl for more.
With deputy shortages, eyes in the sky are making up for officers on the payroll.
Chief Deputy Patrick Clayton with the sheriff’s agency says the Flock cameras are helping deputies stretch their resources farther.
MORE FROM NEWS 12:
- Augusta leaders consider city’s biggest budget ever: $1.156B
- 153 turn out for 2nd day of early voting on Augusta arena sales tax
“Because as far as all the deputies, we don’t want to run around chasing their tail. We want them to be able to catch bad guys. That’s what these license plate reading cameras do with these advanced analytics. That’s what it helps us to do,” he said.
Since installing the Flock cameras in 2021, Clayton says it’s helped them recover 126 stolen vehicles, solve 11 hit-and-run accidents where five of those were fatal, and piece together what happened in three murders.
It also helped them solve three armed robberies and find about a dozen people with active warrants.
“It’s the analytics that really helps us. Let’s say that it doesn’t have a tag. But it has some kind of another thing on the car that makes it identifiable, we’re able to put a filter in there, we’re able to search around for those cars, and find him throughout the county. We have them in all the hotspot locations throughout the county,” said Clayton.
Right now, there are nearly 170 of these cameras across the city and they’re adding 50 more.
“We’ve got a grant. We’re still waiting on the money for it for the additional 50 cameras. And we already are in the procurement phase for the downtown camera program,” said Clayton.
He’s talking about the white cameras you see on the traffic lights in downtown Augusta.
“Downtown camera program is going to be rolling out in about 90 days. We’re already in the procurement process. And in addition to those kinds of cameras, we’ll have the other cameras that will have things like ShotSpotter on them, which will like if there are gunshots, and we’ll put those in areas where we’ve had people doing aggravated assaults in the past, which will increase our response time,” he said.
Clayton says it’s a game changer for catching criminals in Richmond County.
“We’re planting the seeds right now for the future. And in 10 or 15 years, the capabilities of cameras. It’s gonna be hard to be a criminal,” he said.
Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
