LICKING COUNTY, Ohio — Licking Heights Local Schools may have the safest school campuses in central Ohio.
The district now has license plate reading cameras in front of every entrance of every school.
The cameras, which are situated on a single pole and solar powered, snap a photo of every license plate that crosses its lens.
The plate information is then sent into the NCIC database (The National Crime Information Center) used by law enforcement.
If someone has an active search warrant or other court order, even an expelled student, information is sent to the schools security officer who can alert local law enforcement.
The district began using the cameras in June.
“It’s caught a few people actually. We had a person trying to steal some construction equipment and got stuck so we cited him for trespassing. A week later he came back on property, the Flock camera notified me. I was able to get ahold of the police department and within 12 minutes police made contact with the person,” said Brian Evans, the school safety officer for the district.
The software attached to the cameras allows the district to filter which cars they want to track and at what schools, even during certain times of the day. The cameras tell the school the make, model, time the car arrived on property and at what school but doesn’t say who is driving. That information is only for law enforcement.
The district has a total 500 exterior cameras across its footprint, but they can’t do what these cameras can.
“Those exterior cameras on the building not only can they not see very well at the main entrance, but when you zoom in they get very grainy,” says Evans.
Flock cameras have mostly been used for police to help catch criminals by scanning license plates. Licking Heights is the first in Ohio to use them to protect students.
If a parent has a stay away order not to be near their child, or an expelled student is not allowed to be on campus, or if a sex offender drives on property, the school is immediately notified before they reach the front door.
“Most crimes start in the parking lot, they got to get here somehow,” Evans said.
The cameras work 24/7 so even when school is out the cameras continuously watch who is coming on school property.
Westlake Schools in Cleveland and Poland Schools near Youngstown also have LPR cameras.