ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. – A new resource is coming to the Metro East region to try and reduce violent crime. Illinois State Police said this device has already proven to be a great asset in solving crime.
The tool they are adding: automated license plate readers. Forty-five of them have been installed and are operational along Interstates 55, 70, and 64 in the Metro East.
“So, jumping onto an interstate is no longer an escape route for criminals,” Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said. “ISP is using license plate readers to track vehicles suspected of being involved in criminal acts.”
St. Clair County State’s Attorney James Gomric lauded the addition of the cameras, calling them a game changer.
“Already in 2023, ISP has cleared 69% of homicide cases in East St. Louis,” Kelly said. “That’s well above the national average.”
“At a time now where crimes on the highway, crimes committed by vehicles, stolen vehicles on the rise; this is a key component into deterring a lot of the major crimes in our community,” said East St. Louis Police Chief Kendall Perry said.
ISP said it will continue to work with the Illinois Department of Transportation to install more than 30 additional ALPRs along highways throughout the Metro East area before the end of the year.
“Law enforcement can efficiently identify and apprehend criminals in real-time,” State Senator Christopher Belt said.
The announcement is timely, as the Major Case Squad is currently investigating two murder cases in the area.
Turyan Austell, 23, was shot and killed at a MetroLink station in East St. Louis early Tuesday morning. The Major Case Squad has released an image of a person of interest wanted in connection with the murder.
Later on that same Tuesday, a double shooting in Madison on Edwardsville Road left one person dead and another injured.