Cameras that read license plates are coming to Discovery Bay

DISCOVERY BAY, Calif. (KGO) -- The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday morning to appropriate $331,000 to buy license plate camera readers in Discovery Bay.

They plan to buy and install up to two dozen cameras along the Highway 4 corridor and other entrance points into the community.

They are already in use in other locations in the county such as Danville and Lafayette. The supervisor for that district, Candace Andersen, said they were instrumental in catching an arsonist in Lafayette.

"It has been a valuable tool as they have solved burglaries and other crimes," Candace Andersen explained before the vote.

"They read the license plate as people drive by. If there is a license plate of a known felon with a warrant out for their arrest or associated with a crime, they get dinged and they can track where the car is going in the city," Andersen said.

They don't have a time frame on when the cameras will be in place. They have to get permission to install them in locations that are not county owned.

Some have expressed concerns about privacy and how this information is used. No one spoke out against them at Tuesday's meeting. Supervisor Andersen assured everyone the information is only used among local law enforcement agencies.