CROWN POINT — The Lake County Sheriff's Department is preparing to add 17 fixed-site crime monitoring cameras to its network of license plate reader cameras already operating across the county.
County Police Chief Vincent Balbo told the Lake County Council Thursday that live video from the additional cameras will flow into the sheriff's real-time operations center to help determine where best to deploy county and municipal law enforcement resources.
"These two separate systems work together in being able to provide us information," Balbo said. "With those license plate readers now we have a perimeter of every ingress point into Lake County. With the fixed-site cameras, we'll be able to fill in the interior of the county."
He explained the fixed-site cameras will be able to pan left and right, as well as zoom in and out, and can be used in conjunction with the license plate readers for crime prevention purposes, along with other tasks like traffic monitoring.
People are also reading…
- Chesterton teen killed by train remembered as smart, loving
- Police issue Silver alert for missing St. John teen
- UPDATE: Crashes foul morning commute with bad combo of snow, frigid temps
- Chesterton teenager fatally struck by train Sunday
- 5 Best Weight Loss Solutions of 2025: Your Guide to Achieving Lasting Results
Balbo said Hammond and East Chicago are the only Lake County cities with broad camera monitoring systems, so expanding the camera resources of the sheriff's department will help bolster public safety in the rest of the county.
"This is going to be huge for us," Balbo said. "This allows us to have access to real-time information around the county."
He said the sheriff's real-time operations center also monitors live interstate and highway traffic cameras operated by the Indiana Department of Transportation, and can immediately access video cameras in four Lake County school districts, with more to come, during an emergency situation, such as a school shooting incident.
Balbo pegged the cost of the 17 fixed cameras and related equipment at $133,000.
County council members signaled Thursday they're likely to give the sheriff permission at the council's regular meeting Tuesday to shift money in the sheriff's current budget appropriations to fund the purchase.
Police cameras may also be on the agenda of the Indiana General Assembly when it convenes Jan. 8, since there are few state regulations on how law enforcement uses video monitoring equipment and even fewer privacy protections for Hoosiers recorded by it.
Meanwhile, the Lake County Council also appears poised next week to allow Coroner David Pastrick to reallocate about $100,000 in his budget to replace two of the three permanent autopsy tables in the county morgue, and to acquire needed supplies for the nine portable autopsy tables in the coroner's inventory.
Pastrick said he's attempted to secure a variety of grants through federal and state programs to fund the purchase of the essential autopsy equipment but repeatedly was turned down.
Shifting unspent money in his budget to make the purchases prior to the end of the year will ensure there's no interruption of services provided by the coroner's office, Pastrick said.
"It is a lot of money. I don't think I've ever come here asking for this amount of money for supplies to the coroner's office before," Pastrick said. "But it's very important. It's almost an emergency situation."