Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:53 AM | Published: August 17, 2022
MOORE, OKLA (Free Press) — The City Council for the City of Moore heard from Police Chief Tod Gibson Monday about a proposed camera system, which will be used to create a crime prevention and investigation network within the metro area.
Council members also discussed a proposed regulation on decorations at Moore’s city-owned cemeteries as they responded to public concerns and city necessity.
They also extended the
Half cent sales tax renewal
The Moore city council voted to put the renewal of the one-half of one percent (0.50%) sales tax on the November 8 ballot.
The sales tax is used primarily for residential road projects and maintenance, with 30% funding public safety equipment and public safety operations.
City Manager Brooks Mitchell said in the meeting that this sales tax is, “A very critical piece of our funding and our yearly budget,” later recommending approval.
The vote in November will reveal whether Moore residents agree.
Surveillance system extended
The Moore city council approved the purchase of 10 Flock Safety License Plate Reader (LPR) crime prevention and investigative cameras for $25,000, participating in a growing metro-wide surveillance system.
The Flock Safety LPR camera is advertised as “The first camera that sees like a detective.”
It uses patented vehicle fingerprinting technology to let the users search for vehicles by make, model, color, license plate, and more unique details like roof racks and decals. It can even track how many times a specific vehicle has been seen in the past 30 days.
The 24/7, motion activated and solar-powered cameras are internet connected and are advertised to be used as a network, meaning that departments can extend their reach to other municipalities and privately-owned cameras to multiply search capacity.
According to Police Chief Todd Gibson, the system will tie Moore “into a larger investigative network,” helping the city work with Oklahoma City, Edmond, Mustang, and other metro police departments who have joined the network.
Chief Gibson also said that using these cameras will “create a seamless network… that could potentially locate crime and help prevent crime from the south part of the metro to the north part of the metro.”
The 10 cameras will be structured around the city’s intersections with the help of Flock Safety and Moore’s crime analysis staff, but the Police Chief suggested that they be placed in “higher-crime areas” and “entry points” into the city.
Ward 2 Councilmember Mark Hamm asked if the cameras will be used to enforce expired tags and similar crimes, and Chief Gibson answered with a definite “No.”
As for who or what will have access to the surveillance data, the Chief of Police told the council that they have had in depth conversations with nearby municipalities on the same system and they will all have access to each other’s cameras.
The city will have to cooperate with any requests from the State or Federal government, but Chief Gibson said that “being able to tag into the system, that would just be the municipalities.”
The item was passed unanimously.
City cemetery regulations on decorative items
The city of Moore will begin to remove some prohibited decorative items from city-owned cemeteries during the first full week of each month, citing issues with maintenance and landscaping.
Several residents had concerns with the ordinance on the agenda and notified the council prior to the meeting. The council discussed the difficulty with trying to maintain the cemeteries around these items, and also spoke about how they have been extremely lenient compared to other metro municipal cemeteries.
Legal Staff added that there are “some areas that haven’t been weed-eated or mowed” because of decorations, and that “there are some issues where they accidentally run over some items.”
Before the ordinance passed unanimously, Ward 3 Councilmember Louie Williams described that the city will still allow “other types of decorations 3 weeks out of the month, while most cemeteries say it [needs] to be mounted in a permanent vase, or it is gone immediately.”
The new ordinance as detailed on the City of Moore Cemeteries website is effective September 14, and adds two sets of rules;
1. It is unlawful for any person to remove flowers from a vase attached to the monument other than by the persons placing such flowers or by a designated city employee. The city will remove all flowers the first week of February and August.
2. Flowers can remain in vases attached to the monument. Saddles with flowers, attached to the top of the monument, are allowed. Items such as glass jars, cans, or other containers used on the premises for the holding of floral bouquets are prohibited.
Items on the ground or around the monument base and other prohibited items, such as rocks, metal rods, wire stakes, fencing, ornaments, or other items that may cause maintenance problems will be removed during the first full week of every month.
The city plans to be more lenient on the new regulations next month, but will enforce the rules as signage is posted.
The next Moore city council meeting is planned to be on Tuesday, September 6th at 6:30 PM.
Damian Powell is our government reporter for the smaller municipalities in the OKC metro such as Moore, Norman, Bethany, and Warr Acres. Damian is studying Political Science at the University of Oklahoma.
