Cobb-based CID’s tactic: Catch criminals with tag-scanning cameras

The Gateway Marietta Community Improvement District on Thursday announced its partnership with Atlanta-based Flock Safety to place the devices on each end of Franklin Gateway — at its intersections with South Marietta Parkway and Delk Road. The CID will pay Flock $6,000 to cover four cameras for a two-year period, according to Caroline Whaley, the CID’s executive director.

“The hope is that it will, over time, deter crime in the area,” Whaley said, adding that another goal is to help law enforcement locate those who have already broken the law.

Thursday’s announcement comes about a month after Marietta Police announced they had arrested a man accused of repeatedly punching a woman in the face in order to steal her cell phone with the help of the department’s new license plate reading device.

Officer Chuck McPhilamy, spokesperson for Marietta Police, said then the license plate-reading cameras used in connection to that case had been donated and installed at no cost by a company beta testing the plate reader in an effort to get businesses and other entities to purchase their technology.

He confirmed Thursday that the camera system had belonged to Flock.

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