November 23, 2022 JOLIET—State’s Attorney James Glasgow presented a $5,000 check to Channahon Police Chief Shane Casey and Village President Missey Schumacher at the November 21 Village Board meeting to pay for two Flock Safety cameras. A private citizen who wishes to remain anonymous matched Glasgow’s donation with a personal donation of $5,000. Contributions by Glasgow to this countywide public-private partnership initiative to encourage communities throughout Will County to deploy these special video cameras currently stand at $47,500, with combined contributions between Glasgow and community partners currently totaling $90,000.

Flock cameras assist law enforcement in proactively preventing crime by sending real-time alerts to law enforcement when a stolen car or known wanted suspect from a national crime database enters the jurisdiction. When any type of disturbance or crime is reported, a review of the camera date can yield the license plate or plates–not people or faces–of those responsible.

“With the dangerous influx of criminals from Cook County and Chicago, we must do everything we can to protect the public. Not only are these video cameras a proven way to catch criminals, but they play an important role in deterring crime by demonstrating that in Will County we take catching and prosecuting dangerous criminals seriously,” Glasgow said. “This initiative is a great example of how government, the business community, and individuals can work together on critical public safety initiatives that benefit all of us.”

The Flock cameras allow police to search by vehicle make, color, type, and license plate; identify the state of the license plate; capture temporary plates; and capture vehicles with a missing, covered or paper plate, unique vehicle details like roof racks and bumper stickers, and even vehicles without plates.

The new cameras are in addition to seven Flock cameras already in use in Channahon. According to Chief Casey, they have been extremely valuable to law enforcement in numerous respects.

“The benefits of these Flock cameras are not limited to recovering stolen vehicles and identifying vehicles used in the commission of crimes. They have also helped members of our community, locating individuals with dementia when family members were unable to find them,” Casey said. “We are extremely grateful to State’s Attorney Glasgow as well as to our private donor, who wanted to contribute to this program because of the partnership with the State’s Attorney’s Office which doubles individual contributions.”

Glasgow provides the contributions for the Flock cameras entirely with money forfeited from criminals, without any taxpayer dollars used. In addition to the Channahon cameras, Glasgow has donated the costs of Flock cameras for Shorewood, Lewis University, Beecher, Elwood, Homer Glen, Manhattan, Mokena, and Wilmington. Additional donations of safety cameras are planned.