Enhancing security

Stafford considering installing 'geo-fence' around city

By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM

After initiating the project last year, Stafford officials are considering surrounding the city with special cameras that would read and capture images of the license plates of every vehicle that enters the city in order to prevent and solve crimes.

The idea, referred to as creating a "geo-fence" around the city, was one of the primary subjects on the agenda of the Janu - ary 24 meeting of the city's Economic Development Corporation board, chaired by City Council member Wen Guerra.

Last year, the police department rolled out the initial phase of the project, placing 13 cameras at two undisclosed business centers in Stafford. Four of those cameras were later moved temporarily to The Grid, the retail district at the site of former Texas Instruments complex, as a way to induce the property's owners to participate, said Capt. Patrick

Herman, who oversees the program.

The cameras are already paying off in terms of cleared cases and arrests, Herman and Police Chief Richard Ramirez said. In particular, they cited the rescue of a 12-year-old girl who had been kidnapped in early January in Del Rio, on the Mexican border, at a house in Stafford as the car pulled into the driveway. Del Rio police had captured the license plate on camera and the car was tracked all the way to Stafford.

The cameras, which are owned and operated by a company called Flock Safety, transmit data to a web-based server and are retained by 30 days for use by the police department's detectives. All of the hardware and software is owned by the company, said Dale Anzalone, the company's Houston territory manager. Herman laid out three proposed new phases of the program, breaking them down by the number of cameras and their respective costs for instal - lation and maintenance. The phases would encompass the northeast, northwest, and southern sides of the city But rather than a phased approach, Herman recommended that the board combine all the phases into one "project." The entire project would include 26 additional cameras with a one-time installation cost of $16,000 and a maintenance cost of $92,500 per year, he said. That would