White Hall to install License Plate Recognition cameras

By Editor | July 21, 2026 |

By Carmen Ensinger

There will be several cameras installed throughout White Hall, some of which will be used to monitor the traffic going to and from the solar farm being erected near the city, but others that will monitor the city itself.
White Hall City Attorney Todd Parish informed the council at the July 14th meeting that he had told the solar farm people that even though they only plan on being around for 16 to 20 months, that they had to pay for the entire two years contract on the cameras, to which they agreed.
The idea behind these cameras is to ensure that vehicles belonging to the solar company only use the roads designated in the Road Use Agreement. Any other road used could result in a substantial fine. The cameras can provide proof that they use these other roads.
However, Police Chief Luke Coultas said that before the idea of using these cameras came up, he had applied for a $9,000 grant, and received it, to purchase and install three License Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras at locations throughout the city.
“I had put in for this grant a while back before LPR’s and I really didn’t count on getting it, but we got a $9,000 grant for them which will get us three cameras,” Coultas said. “They tell me once you receive that grant, you just apply for it every year and you should get it year after year so we should be able to keep those cameras and it will cover all but $500 of the cost and it will give us a live view on one of the cameras at Rt. 106 and Rt. 67.”
An LPR camera is a specialized surveillance system that automatically captures, reads and digitizes vehicle license plate numbers. Combined with optical character recognition (OCR) software, it instantly logs the plate characters, timestamps, and locations into a searchable, trackable digital database.
So, what is the difference between these cameras as opposed to regular security cameras?
These cameras are designed to monitor broader areas and engineered to focus specifically on vehicles in motion. They use high-speed shutter speeds to eliminate motion blur and infrared lighting to cut through glare and darkness ensuring that the plate numbers are legible day or night.
There are some major differences between an LPR and a Flock LPR, which is a specific brand of LPR made by Flock Safety. Flock cameras are popular with neighborhoods and police for solving crimes.
A few of the key differences are:
Police and government agencies use the standard LPR’s while Flock cameras are used more by neighborhoods, private businesses and some police, more so in solving crimes.
The biggest difference is in how they work.
An LPR records the date, time and plate number from a moving vehicle.
A Flock camera captures more than just license plates. They use artificial intelligence to log a vehicle’s make, model, color, and unique features, such as if it has a bike rack or a bumper sticker.
Another big difference is in how they are set up.
Your basic LPR can be wired into the city’s power grid, or, in layman’s terms, requires electricity to be used and requires complex IT setups.
But Flock cameras are totally wireless and run on solar power which makes them easy to mount on existing poles.
It should be noted that neither system uses facial recognition to identify human faces – yet.
According to Coultas, the cameras for the solar company will be installed at Israel and Carlinville Sts. And the other one on East Lincoln facing East.
The cameras the city received with the grant will be placed at Rtes. 106 and 67, where a live camera will be placed as well because it is a dangerous intersection, one on West Bridgeport.
It won’t be an LPR, but on Main Street, near Farmer’s State Bank, a 360-degree camera that can reach 1,500 feet in all directions will be placed. This should allow them to see almost to Scotties and then past the 4-way.