The John Glenn School Board members discussed last week a new town safety endeavor in the Town of Walkerton.
Superintendent Christopher Winchell said the corporation is partnering with the Town of Walkerton in purchasing a Flock camera. A Flock camera is installed in strategic areas of town and when a vehicle drives by the camera the camera records the license plate information. If a car is being sought in a crime, Silver Alert, Amber Alert, or other matters , a notification will be sent to police of the location of that car where an intervention could take place.
Walkerton Police Chief Matthew Shalliol told the school board that a trial period with these cameras has proved to be beneficial.
“We’ve done a two-month trial period with the system and we were actually able to close quite a few cases that we probably wouldn’t have been able to develop a suspect with because of the cameras,” said Chief Shalliol.
He added that he approached the school corporation as a potential partner as the cameras could have helped in an alleged attempted child abduction reported last school year. They had a great description of the vehicle at the time, but no plate number.
There will be six cameras in the final expenditure of the project. The Town of Walkerton will purchase four cameras, the Lincoln Township Trustee will purchase one, and with the partnership of the school, Superintendent Winchell agreed to the school’s purchase of a camera. Winchell said it is a $2,500 annual commitment.
