Manteca Police for the past several years have had a silent partner in their fight against crime.

The partner has helped provide critical evidence that has led to the arrest of suspects in serious felonies.

At the same time the same partner has given them tips about the whereabouts of suspects fleeing a crime scene.

The partner?

It’s license plate readers placed at a handful of strategic intersections in Manteca.

That is in addition to license plate readers Great Wolf has placed on the grounds of their 500-room indoor waterpark resort to help combat incidents of auto burglary and other crimes.

They are the same license plate readers (LPR) manufactured by Flock Safety that were installed in Tracy last month and those already in Ripon.

The fact the Flock System shares data in real time is why within days of them being installed in Tracy that city’s police department was able to arrest a suspect in an armed carjacking incident in Stockton earlier that day after they were detected in Tracy by the LPR system.

Manteca Police Lt. Gregg Beall noted the department would like to add additional LPRs at other intersections within the city.

Manteca applied for the same grant funds Tracy Police did. But unlike Tracy, Manteca was not successful at securing the $255,000 that allowed for the installation of 15 LPRs in Tracy.

“We’re planning on applying again,” Beall said.

Beall said the LPRs have been an effective tool in helping the city combat organized retail theft.

To proactively prevent crime from occurring in jurisdictions, the cameras send a real-time alert to law enforcement when a stolen car or known wanted suspect vehicles from a state or national crime database enters the jurisdiction.

 They can also send alerts if a vehicle associated with a missing person in an AMBER or Silver Alert is detected.

The cameras are also to solve and reduce property and violent crime and are not intended for minor traffic or parking violations.

Flock Safety cameras are in use in over 2,000 cities across 40 states. The company works with thousands of law enforcement agencies.

Law enforcement have reported crime reductions of up to 70% when deploying Flock Safety in their communities.

The higher crime reduction tends to be proportional to how many LPRs are placed with a city.

Manteca, unlike Ripon or Tracy, has a greater challenge with two freeways passing through the city with seven interchanges plus a grid pattern of roads placed a mile apart that lead north, south and east into the countryside.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com

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