Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine announced that the Cross-River Crime Task Force adopted an organizational charter and phased implementation plan at its meeting Thursday.
“This task force has made significant progress since its first meeting in April,” Haine stated in a press release. “Today we adopted a charter to establish a leadership structure for this organization and a two-phased plan. Over the next week I will be working with the Sheriff and task force members to formally appoint a commander. After this, the task force can swing into action as a new tool to fight crime flows into and throughout Madison County.”
Haine formed the task force in response to crime coming from Missouri as criminals use the interstate highways and bridges to cross state lines and commit crimes in Madison County. The task force is comprised of law enforcement officials from the federal, state and local levels.
Phase one of the task force is expected to begin this month with proactive patrols of the county using existing license plate reader (LPR) technology. The task force will also conduct an inventory of available assets during the beginning phase. According to the press release, these tools will be used to analyze current and historical data to identify real-time crime patterns within Madison County.
Future phases will include expanding the use of the license plate reader technology to help identify individuals with outstanding warrants or vehicles known to be involved in criminal activity, the press release states. Haine specified that the license plate readers are not “red light cameras” and will not issue traffic citations.
During the meeting, the group also adopted the Mission of the Task Force, which states, “It is the mission of the Cross River Crime Task Force to use join county-wide operations to reduce crime flows into and through Madison County while working within an established electronic infrastructure (the license plate reader network) that was designed to balance legitimate law enforcement needs against the equally important interest in protecting individual privacy.”
“It’s an honor to work with so many great law enforcement leaders to make this new effort a success,” Haine stated. “Madison County residents demand safe communities, and these efforts will reinforce our mission to fight crime.”