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Council accepts $14,800 organized retail crime grant to maintain license-plate readers
Summary
Belvidere police asked the council to accept a FY27 organized retail crime grant of $14,800 from the Illinois attorney general's office to support the municipality’s license-plate reader system; Deputy Chief Byrd said the cameras assist in identifying vehicles used in organized retail crime.
The Belvidere Police Department requested and the committee accepted a fiscal-year-2027 organized retail crime grant of $14,800 from the Illinois Attorney General’s office to support continued operation of the department’s license plate reader (LPR) camera system.
Deputy Chief Byrd summarized the request and said the LPR system provides investigative leads and helps identify vehicles associated with organized retail crime and other investigations. Byrd said the department occasionally encounters offenders who remove plates, but that has been relatively rare; he added the cameras have assisted in locating organized groups that target retail stores.
Why it matters: Accepting the grant will allow the department to continue operating the LPR system without placing the full cost on the city’s general fund. Councilors asked operational questions about prevailing tactics and Bryan Byrd confirmed the cameras’ investigative value.
The motion to accept the FY27 organized retail crime grant passed in committee voice vote.
