Charlie Halford has been able to put Manteca on a course that previous councils collectively have been unable to do — the installation of significantly more license plate readers at intersections throughout the city

Known by the shorthand of LPR, Halford said the devices aren’t replacements for more police manpower.

Instead, they increase the effectiveness of officers especially in identifying and tracking down suspects in crimes.

That was the case earlier this year when the four intersections that already have LPRs in place since 2016 provided high resolution images that — based on a vehicle description provided by a witness — led to a suspect being arrested in connection with a homicide.

“They make the entire community safer,” Halford said.

Halford committed the entire $450,000 in COVID relief funds he was allocated to earmark to go toward covering the $790,000 cost of equipping up to 16 intersections with the LPRs for three years.

Mayor Gary Singh added $100,000 while Vice Mayor Morowit added $155,000, and Councilman Jose Nuno $150,000 from their respective allotment of the $2.5 million in leftover COVID relief funds to earmark as they saw fit for community amenities.
That leaves the staff with the task of identifying another $45,000 to get the additional LPRs in place.

The $790,000 will cover the installation and three years of operation.

Halford noted that will give staff three years to identify funds to keep the additional cameras in service

For years, elected leaders have tried without success to pump up the presence of stationary LPRs in addition to those in police vehicles.

Each time, though, the senior management team recommended not to do so due to budget considerations.

Halford, who is a retired Manteca Police chief, noted that LPRs are effective at:

*Helping arrest suspects in serious crimes. Tracy, after installing LPRs earlier this year, credited images they provided with helping solve four major felonies including a homicide.

*Given  Manteca is going with Flock cameras that surrounding communities use, the system’s data base can alert local officers when a vehicle wanted in connection with a crime is on a city street.

*Detecting stolen vehicles — or stolen plates — that are used often to commit crimes.

*Assisting in locating vehicles involved in active Amber Alerts.

And perhaps just as important, Halford said it will put Manteca on equal footing with Lathrop, Ripon, Tracy, and Mountain House among nearby cities that have LPRs already in place.

“Criminals are like water,” Halford said. “They take the path of least resistance.”

By that, he means word gets around in a large segment of the criminal world.

Manteca not having LPRs effectively deployed could eventually make the community more vulnerable to crime, according to Halford.

He pointed to the fact that Manteca has an effective organized retail crime unit with a dedicated detective has resulted in Manteca enjoying a relatively high level of success against organized retail crime.

Halford said that is helping make Manteca stores less vulnerable to such crime given no other jurisdiction in the area has an organized retail crime detail.

The biggest plus of LPRs is how they can be used to solve crimes.

Halford said being able to identify suspects in serious felonies as soon as possible is key to increasing the odds of an arrest being made.

That can make Manteca safer by getting serious criminals off the street.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com