The Ontario County Sheriff’s office and Eastview Mall have partnered to install license plate readers at 4 of the mall entrances.
7 cameras have been added to the entrances of the malls parking lots, and will scan every plate that drives onto the mall campus.
The Ontario County Sheriff’s Department will be in charge of the cameras, and Lieutenant David Cirencione said even though all license plates will be scanned, they will only be notified of those vehicles that are registered under certain criteria.
That includes license plates associated with missing persons, violent warrants, previous shop lifters, or cars associated with groups known for shoplifting.
Cirencione says if any of these licenses come up on the cameras, they will receive an alert in 10 seconds or less.
Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero says the project has been in the works for about 3 years, as malls across the country have seen an increase in crime.
"I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said before when I say that malls in our country unfortunately fall under the category of soft targets when it comes to issues of security. And we've seen too many stories of violence around retail centers."
Chief Deputy John Storer said they are happy the cameras are up and running before Black Friday and the holiday season, but also noted that they are a permanent feature and will be active year round.
The cameras were funded with grants from the New York State Division of Homeland Security as well as the Division of Criminal Justice Services. Together the grants total approximately $75,000.