The Salem Police Department will share new details about upgrades to its license plate detectors and online crime reporting system at a Salem City Council meeting Monday evening.

The department also brought in a consulting company last year to revamp its policies and will present recent changes to the council.

READ IT: City council agenda

License plate recognition

Salem police are expanding their use of license plate recognition technology, which includes stationary and in-car cameras that capture plates on passing vehicles.

A city council report did not make clear how Salem police are expanding the program and the agency did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarification.

“The system identifies stolen or wanted vehicles, stolen license plates, and better supports criminal investigations and successful prosecutions,” according to the report.

Salem police began using automated license plate readers in the mid-2000s, mounting them on three patrol cars and mainly using them to find stolen vehicles. But those cameras were only effective if the patrol cars were in use and if the passing vehicles were close enough for their plate to be detected.

The agency in the early 2020s started adding cameras at locations around Salem that weren’t in patrol cars, the report said. Salem police later added more cameras after receiving state grants for the program.

The cameras now play a key role in the Community Violence Reduction initiative – a collective effort by law enforcement, community organizations and service providers to reduce deadly violence in the city – by helping identify suspects in violent crimes, the report said.

Salem police have partnered with other local police agencies to share the cost of the program and connect cameras to a common server.

READ IT: License plate recognition policy

Crime reporting

Salem police are preparing to replace their online crime reporting system in mid-May which they said has been inefficient for over a decade. 

The agency said the new system will allow people to file a police report any time on any device, add to their report over time and upload their own digital evidence. The council report did not say how much the system costs.

The updates will allow officers to spend less time on “non-urgent incidents” and focus on emergency calls, according to the council report. They will also provide data which Salem police can view on a map to detect crime trends, “helping the department focus its limited patrol and investigative resources,” the report said.

When a report is submitted, department staff will verify the information and send it to investigators to follow up.

Policy changes

Salem police brought in Lexipol, a Texas-based consulting company, to help review their more than 200 policies and ensure they were up-to-date with industry standards.

The agency also reviewed several “community-centered” policies with members of the public through the police chief’s advisory council and Salem’s Community Police Review Board, according to the council report. 

“Going forward, soliciting community input for new or revised policies that impact police-community trust will be a standard part of the process,” the report said.

The report did not include details about specific policy changes.

READ IT: Updated Salem police policies

Expanded traffic cameras

Salem police on May 1 debuted two new red light and speed traffic cameras in south Salem.

Existing cameras on Southeast Commercial Street at the intersections of Southeast Kuebler Boulevard and Southeast Madrona Avenue were expanded to capture traffic headed north. The Kuebler camera previously only monitored drivers headed west, while the one at Madrona only detected southbound drivers.

In the last 17 years, Salem police have installed cameras at six intersections where a high number of collisions have occurred. Those intersections have since seen an overall decrease in crashes, according to the council report.

The agency will discuss the results of the traffic camera program and its recent additions at the council meeting.

READ IT: Traffic camera policy

Also on the agenda

• The city council will receive a quarterly financial report on the city’s budget and spending.
• Councilors will vote on whether to move forward a project to build a sidewalk on the south side of State Street between Southeast Oakmont Court and Southeast 49th Avenue, as well as new curb ramps at the intersection with 49th Avenue. The work is intended to connect newly developed neighborhoods to the north and Mary Eyre Elementary school to the south, according to the council report.
• The council will also receive a report about a planned development of a 12-unit apartment building at 3021 and 3027 D St. N.E.
• Councilors will also vote on whether to approve annexation of a 7.66-acre territory for two properties in the 2500 block of Northwest Michigan City Lane and the 3300 block of Northwest Levi Street. If approved, they would have a second reading to decide whether to pass it.

Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.

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