January 19, 2023 JOLIET—State’s Attorney James Glasgow and Reed-Custer School District 255 Superintendent Mark Mitchell each presented $5,000 contributions to Braidwood Police Chief Todd Lyons for the purchase of four Flock Safety cameras at the January 18 School Board Meeting. Glasgow established this countywide public-private partnership program to encourage communities throughout Will County to deploy these special video cameras which help to prevent crime and catch criminals. Glasgow’s contributions to this initiative currently total $52,500, and combined contributions between Glasgow and community partners have reached $100,000.

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.

“Reed Custer is the first school district that has contributed to this critical safety initiative, and we are incredibly grateful for the District’s generosity and recognition of the vital role Flock Safety cameras play in enhancing community safety,” Glasgow said. “Will County continues to experience carjackings and other criminal activities from dangerous individuals coming from Cook County and Chicago. In addition to helping catch criminals, these cameras serve a deterrence function by demonstrating that we take catching and prosecuting dangerous criminals seriously here in Will County.”

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

The four new cameras are in addition to four Flock cameras already in use at Braidwood’s points of entry, according to Chief Lyons.

“When we learned of the Flock camera initiative, we reached out to our friends at Reed-Custer and they quickly agreed to match State’s Attorney Glasgow’s contribution. The four new Flock cameras will be placed near the schools to enhance the safety of our children and those who work with our children every day,” Lyons said. “Our previous experience with Flock Cameras has shown how beneficial they are to our community. In one case, criminals from Cook County came to Braidwood where they burglarized some vehicles and stole others. Using Flock cameras, we were able to locate one of the stolen cars. This led to the recovery of other stolen cars, as well as guns — including a gun that had been used as the weapon in a murder.”

School board members approved the contribution at the Wednesday evening board meeting.

“When the Police Department told us about the Flock Safety initiative, we were happy to contribute,” Mitchell said. “We have a great relationship with the Braidwood Police Department, including the wonderful resource officers in our schools, and appreciate the opportunity to work with law enforcement in helping to protect the safety of everyone in the Reed-Custer community.”

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