SALISBURY, Md. -- On Monday night, the Salisbury Police Department is expected to enter into a partnership with security company Flock Safety. If the deal goes through, it could shape the department's future digital footprint.
The partnership would see 40 new cameras and 40 new license plate readers installed in city limits. Most of the technology would be in the downtown area, but the department has its sights set on a few roads and intersections on the city's outskirts.
"It's just going to give us better visibility on what's going on," said Salisbury Police Chief David Meinschein. "It's going to point us in the [right] direction, it's going to be just an additional investigative tool."
Despite installing new cameras in recent weeks, the Salisbury Police Department has only 15 at its disposal. There's a feeling among law enforcement and city officials that that isn't enough.
"Not as strong as it should be," said Salisbury Mayor Randy Taylor. "We're dependent sometimes on other people's cameras."
The effort to increase the police department's reach in an increasingly digital world will cost $398,890 in year one. That will cover the cameras and license plate readers themselves, as well as installation fees.
The deal does come with an annual recurring cost of $354,090. So, over the contract's three-year period, the city will be on the hook for $1,107,070. It will be money well spent, however, says Meinschein.
"It's really an investigative tool, an extra resource," said Meinschein. "We're going to have a force multiplier really, for a lack of a better way to put it, that helps us in times when we just don't have the staffing on the street."
Criminal activity is likely to come to mind as a potential use, and that will certainly be the case. License plate readers, for example, could help local law enforcement track a stolen car in real time, while cameras allow police to review crime scene footage.
Uses could go beyond the criminal, however.
"We've had some issues with folks drowning in the downtown area, as folks may know, this is going to give us some more visibility," said Meinschein.
While Meinschein stopped short of saying cameras around the Wicomico River could help prevent drownings entirely, he said it is a possibility and added that the cameras would allow police to gather more information after the fact.
Partnerships with local businesses and Salisbury University are also on the table here. Meinschein said the goal is to loop in technology from those entities for police purposes down the road.
This deal still needs approval from Salisbury's City Council. If that happens on Monday night, Meinschein said the cameras and license plate readers could be up and running within six to eight weeks.
