Police Department
Reference: MOU with Colorado State Patrol Regarding the Automated License Plate Reader
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Jane Bais DiSessa, City Manager
Prepared By: Frank Acosta, Investigations Commander
Date Prepared: June 6, 2021
PURPOSE
To enter into a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Brighton and the Colorado State Patrol
BACKGROUND
The City of Brighton has seen an increase of motor vehicle thefts over the last 2 years. The metro area has shown an increase of about 70% and some of those vehicles have been stolen from/found in Brighton. There are stolen vehicles being driven around the city on a daily basis. The police department needs a tool to assist them in the fight against Auto Theft. The police department has attempted to obtain a stationary Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) through a grant for the last 2 years without success. This year, the Brighton Police Department was awarded a grant for over $66,000 to purchase an ALPR. Part of the grant requirement is that the police department to share our data with the rest of the metro area. The Colorado State Patrol has a server that can download all of our data for storage. There is no charge for this use, we need to only sign an MOU with them regarding our downloading of information to their server. This is the MOU that I am requesting to be signed.
Examples of the value of the ALPR:
• In 2011, the police department was investigating a homicide that occurred in an apartment and the suspect drove away in the victim’s vehicle. We had 2 mobile ALPR’s in patrol cars at that time. An officer driving one of these cars was able to find the victim’s vehicle the next day in a parking lot behind a local shopping center. We obtained video from a nearby business, we were able to identify the suspect in that case which led to a successful arrest and prosecution of the suspect. Those ALPR cars are no longer in service as the technology and equipment has aged out.
• A couple of years ago, we had a gentleman crossing Bridge St when he was hit and killed by a passing car. The car fled the scene. If we had a stationary ALPR at that time, we could have checked license plates of cars that passed on Bridge St. around that time frame to attempt to identify that run vehicle.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The police department was able to obtain a grant from the Colorado Metro Auto Theft Task Force (CMATT) to cover the entire cost of the unit. The department will download all data to a server that is housed at the Colorado State Patrol. This will save the city the financial impact of purchasing a large server to house all the data. CMATT, through the grant, will cover all maintenance costs for the first 5 years that the system is in service. The only financial impact on the city will be the cost of an electrician to connect the camera system.
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
The purpose of this presentation is to notify City Council of this grant award and provide an overview of the value associated with Automated License Plate Readers.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends approval of the MOU. While there is a low financial impact to accepting this MOU, it will allow the Brighton Police Department to bring the best quality service to the citizens of Brighton that are often quality of life issues for our customers.
ATTACHMENTS
1) 2021/2022 Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Brighton and the Colorado State Patrol
2) ALPR PowerPoint