Glasgow Joins District 255 in Donating $10,000 to Braidwood for Flock Safety Cameras

Contributions to  Public-Private Partnership Initiative reach $100,000.

State’s Attorney James Glasgow and Reed-Custer School District 255 Superintendent Mark Mitchell each presented $5,000 contributions to Braidwood Police Chief Todd Lyons for the purchase of four Flock Safety cameras at the January 18 school board meeting.

Glasgow established this countywide public-private partnership program to encourage communities throughout Will County to deploy these special video cameras, which help prevent crime and catch criminals. Glasgow’s contributions to this initiative currently total $52,500, and combined contributions between Glasgow and community partners have reached $100,000.

“Reed-Custer is the first school district contributing to this critical safety initiative, and we are incredibly grateful for the district’s generosity and recognition of the vital role Flock Safety cameras play in enhancing community safety,” Glasgow said. “Will County continues to experience carjackings and other criminal activities from dangerous individuals coming from Cook County and Chicago. In addition to helping catch criminals, these cameras serve a deterrence function by demonstrating we take catching and prosecuting dangerous criminals seriously here in Will County.”

With Flock cameras, police can search by vehicle make, color, type, and license plate; identify the state of the license plate; and capture temporary plates. Flock cameras also capture vehicles with a missing, covered, or paper plate, unique vehicle details, such as roof racks and bumper stickers, and even vehicles without plates.

The four new cameras are in addition to four Flock cameras already in use at Braidwood’s points of entry, according to Chief Lyons.

“When we learned of the Flock camera initiative, we reached out to our friends at Reed-Custer, and they quickly agreed to match State’s Attorney Glasgow’s contribution. The four new Flock cameras will be placed near the schools to enhance the safety of our children and those who work with our children every day,” Lyons said.

“Our previous experience with Flock Cameras has shown how beneficial they are to our community. In one case, criminals from Cook County came to Braidwood where they burglarized some vehicles and stole others. Using Flock cameras, we were able to locate one of the stolen cars. This led to the recovery of other stolen cars, as well as guns – including a gun that had been used as the weapon in a murder,” Lyons continued.

School board members approved the contribution at the Wednesday evening board meeting.

“When the Police Department told us about the Flock Safety initiative, we were happy to contribute,” Mitchell said. “We have a great relationship with the Braidwood Police Department, including the wonderful resource officers in our schools, and appreciate the opportunity to work with law enforcement in helping to protect the safety of everyone in the Reed-Custer community.”