Council approves purchase of in‑car camera system with license‑plate readers

The Miami City Council approved the purchase and installation of an in‑car camera system with automatic license‑plate‑reader capability for a total one‑time cost of $139,124 and an ongoing subscription estimated at about $14,000 per year starting in the second year.

Council members voted on the item after a presentation from the police department describing the system’s functions and anticipated benefits. The council’s recorded yes votes included Dopel, Issa, Jones, Barnes and Parker; no votes or formal objections were not recorded in the transcript excerpt.

The police department said the system includes three cameras per vehicle (front, rear and interior), begins recording automatically when lights are activated, and can be turned on manually. The department described three operational features it said are important: officer safety, preservation of evidence for court presentation, and automatic scanning of license plates while vehicles are in motion. The presenter said the system “records anything that’s happening out in front of the camera” and that the plate‑reading function can locate stolen vehicles, wanted vehicles and other entries on a “hot list.”

Officials also described retention and access protocols: footage for an activation is retained and stored in a cloud service; the original recording is stored as a sealed, view‑only file and any edits occur through a separate process for evidence or case presentation. The presenter said the system can be configured to preserve several minutes of pre‑activation footage (the department described a typical pre‑activation buffer of about three minutes) and that the first year of the subscription service is provided as part of the purchase, with subscription fees beginning in year two.

The police department said staff plan to integrate alerts into officers’ in‑car tablets once a software tie‑in is available so alerts from the plate‑reading system appear directly to officers while they are patrolling. The department also discussed a future plan to add stationary plate readers at selected locations; those stationary units were described as a separate project and were not part of the motion the council approved.

The council approved the motion to purchase the system and the associated agreement for installation and support. The motion included the scope described by staff and did not specify additional restrictions or conditions in the minutes. Implementation will require ongoing subscription payments for years two through five and software integration work with dispatch and mobile devices.

The city did not record a public comment on the item in the provided transcript excerpt.