The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office is currently in the process of implementing the installation of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) throughout our county. These new technologies are being used throughout the entire country and they have greatly assisted law enforcement in solving crimes and recovering stolen property. The way this system works is cameras are set up at various roadways and streets throughout the county and take a photo of every vehicle and license plate that goes by them. The system will then
run the license plate through a nationwide system that checks to see if the vehicle is stolen, wanted for a crime, or if it’s associated with a missing person or juvenile (Silver Alerts, Amber Alerts, etc.). If the system detects a match for any of the mentioned scenarios it will automatically send an alert to our deputies and dispatchers within seconds. This allows our deputies to respond to the area of the alert to attempt to locate the vehicle. You may have seen these cameras if you have driven through the City of Beaver Dam within the last
year as they recently incorporated license plate readers within their city. The incorporation of these cameras alone has greatly assisted the Beaver Dam Police Department as well as the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office as they have helped solve an attempted homicide, bank robbery, numerous drug cases, thefts, and the recovery of stolen vehicles. The implementation of new cameras throughout the entire county, with the collaboration of the cameras already in use in Beaver Dam, will greatly assist in the variety of crimes our department investigates daily. We are reaching out to our local businesses and community stakeholders, searching for donations to help offset the cost of these cameras. We are starting a trial period with the company that will install 21 cameras throughout the county. After 60 days, we need to identify what cameras we would like to keep in use. The cost per camera is $2,750 per year. This is a large-scale budget item per year for our agency. The more cameras we can keep, the more efficient our staff can be in investigating and
solving crimes in Dodge County. Our budget only has the capacity for four cameras in a county of nearly 900 square miles in size. The 21 cameras we have identified are the bare minimum needed to maximize coverage of the entire county. We will be actively soliciting and accepting donations through October 20, 2023, before we will determine which cameras we will be able to keep. Donations will continue to be accepted after this date to maintain the program in our community for years to come. If you are willing to donate, please see the attached donation page to complete your information and the donation amount. All who donate will be recognized publicly via our sheriff’s office app and social media pages.
