BALTIMORE — Five intersections around Federal hill now have license plate readers (LPR).
The riverside neighborhood purchased and put the readers themselves.
The goal is for the community to create a boundary around Federal Hill to read license plates of potentially stolen cars.
"Cameras will not stop people from stealing cars but what these cameras should do is alert BPD when a stolen car crosses that boundary. So that officers can be proactive in locating that vehicle. This will hopefully have a substantial impact on the amount of time criminals can spend terrorizing our neighbors," said Brad O'Brien with the Federal Hill Neighborhood Association.
Auto theft is up by more than 200% in Baltimore City.
The Neighborhood Association says the Baltimore Police Department will monitor the cameras.
"This is what community policing looks like, this is the definition of community policing. When you have a community that has identified what their issues are and has went out and initiated, advocated and collaborated to find a solution when it comes to supplying LPR's to this neighborhood," said Monique Brown, a deputy commissioner with BPD.
The Neighborhood Association paid for the license plate readers with a $250,000 grant from the state.
Each intersection cost between $25 and $50,000.
"Our team of volunteers know that BPD is understaffed, our team of volunteers know that there have been over 10,000 cars stolen in the city this year. Our team of volunteers know the fear and terror that comes from people driving around our community in stolen vehicles committing violent crimes in a short period of time," said O'Brien.
The Neighborhood Association hopes other neighborhoods add their own license plate readers to create more coverage in the city.
