The Butler City Police Department will be getting a new investigative tool at no immediate cost to the city.
Butler City Council has approved the purchase of four license plate reader cameras, which will be placed in two different city intersections, to aid in police investigations.
These cameras won’t be used for traffic enforcement, according to Butler City Police Chief Bob O’Neill.
“These are not red light cameras. They don’t write speeding tickets,” O’Neill said during a meeting Thursday. “They capture license plates- in real time- as vehicles travel through intersections.”
He said the reader cameras are the biggest advancement in law enforcement since computers were installed in police vehicles, and that they are already in use throughout western Pennsylvania.
“I have personally used them to solve some crimes,” O’Neill said.
The cameras cost about $8,000 initially- and $2,000 annually- which will come from a combination of grant funds, donations, and the Butler County District Attorney’s Office.
