10 Westmoreland County communities getting new license plate readers

NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Ten communities in Westmoreland County will soon be getting new license plate readers. They’re being installed as part of a larger network of cameras connecting Westmorland to neighboring counties, including Allegheny County, and communities to help crack down on crime through the area on busy roadways.

This is being made possible by funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, through funding from State Sen. Kim Ward’s office and District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli.

Westmoreland County will be installing a total of 20 new license plate readers at intersections on busy roadways in the next year. North Huntingdon and Rostraver will be the first two communities to have them installed – connecting them to a network with Allegheny County and other police in the area.

“This is one more step to make sure that they have everything they need in active investigations to solve crime,” said Ziccarelli.

This comes from funding from the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan – and Channel 11 told you about the program when it was announced by the District Attorney and State Senator Kim Ward last fall.

Ziccarelli said these cameras can help solve crimes across the area – setting up a network of cameras across the region.

“This is tremendously important because people don’t just commit crime that live in Westmoreland County and stay in Westmoreland County. People come in from other states, people come in from other counties,” she said. “We’ve got to be able to know who is coming into our county and committing crime and where they are going so we can apprehend them.”

Police often mention the kidnapping of 23-month-old Nalani Johnson from Penn Hills in 2019. She was later found dead in Indiana County. Murrysville Police Captain Tom Kusinsky said these cameras might have saved her.

“If we would have had that system, I can’t say for 100% that we might have found her before something happened, but it would have greatly increased our chances to find that girl,” Kusinski told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek.

These license plate readers will not catch people running red lights or speeding, police say. The images will be deleted after three months, and license plates will be deleted after five months. They can only be accessed for active investigations when warranted.

“If for some reason some of these privileges were to be abused, we would certainly look into that and prosecute if necessary,” Ziccarelli said.

North Huntingdon, Murrysville, Hempfield, Rostraver, Unity, Penn Township, Derry Township, East Huntingdon, Youngwood and Washington Township are all slated to get license plate readers in this program.

There is no time frame on when all 10 communities will have their license plate readers installed.

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