New Jersey City to Install Cameras to Read License Plates, Capture Faces

Millville police are installing computerized cameras that will record license plates and the faces of drivers at seven undisclosed areas.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Feb 19, 2019

Camera systems that record the license plate numbers and the faces of drivers will soon be installed in seven undisclosed areas in Millville, New Jersey, according to Chief Jody Farabella. 

Farabella said the city allocated bond money for the fixed systems almost two years ago but had to work out details with Atlantic City Electric for access to its infrastructure and properties.

“It’s a great tool, obviously,” Farabella said this week. “You get a report of a `shots fired’ and you might get a house video or a complex video. You get the white van that goes by. The LPR is going to tell us who it is, who it belongs to, who it’s registered to, time stamped, and it’s going to have facial recognition.”

Farabella said detectives were polled about two years ago on what new equipment they most wanted. License plate readers was their top choice, he said.

Millville police have had one cruiser equipped with a licensed plate reader for about a decade, acquired through the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department. “And obviously we want more of them,” he said.

In contrast to the mobile system, Farabella said the static systems will be more useful for gathering data for analysis than for making immediate traffic stops.