Key license-plate cameras to reduce crime, raise funds

APRIL FOOLS — The Longboat Key Town Commission voted last week to accept a license-plate recognition camera system that allows priority access to the island for residents who register with the high-tech system by April 1.

The four-camera system, which will be installed Thursday, will scan license plates a quarter-mile before motorists reach a 20-foot high iron gate that will be installed on either end of the island, said Longboat Key Police Chief Al Hogle.

If your license plate is recognized by the police station computer database, the gate will swing open and give motorists five seconds to drive through the gate before it swings shut.

If your license plate is not recognized by the database or if a scan reveals a suspended license or other offenses, police officers on both ends of the island will be waiting to assist motorists in either making a three-point turn to head back to Sarasota or Anna Maria Island or paying a road-usage fee.

Police estimate that the system could eliminate suspicious-person calls on the island by 62%, while reducing the number of suspicious ve-hicle calls by 88%, although they worry that the cameras won’t combat more serious crimes, such as boat theft and burglaries, which frequently involve perpetrators on boats. There will now be four officers on duty at all times to assist in the gate-monitoring system.

In total, the system is estimated to cost $2 million, but would only cost the town $1 million if the town agrees to allow Lakewood Ranch-based Sanborn Studios to film a car-chase scene down Gulf of Mexico Drive during the last two weeks of April. The studio has agreed to pay the town $1 million for exclusive rights to the road from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will make a formal check presentation April 1, at the Longboat Key Police Department, in an event that is free and open to the public.

Tourists who can show proof of occupancy at an island inn or resort will only be charged $15 per day to get on and off the island, in an attempt to encourage tourism and show the island is a welcome place for visitors.

Business owners and employees would be charged $250 per month to get on and off the island.
But those just passing through from Sarasota and Anna Maria Island would see the highest charges, in an attempt to reduce traffic on Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Motorists coming from Sarasota would be charged $5 daily to drive northbound through Longboat Key. Those coming from Bradenton Beach and Bradenton would be charged $40 daily to drive southbound through Longboat Key.

When asked why motorists from Bradenton would be charged 700% more than motorists coming from Sarasota, Hogle said crime statistics show that the majority of crimes occur with motorists coming from Bradenton who have expired tags and suspended drivers’ licenses.

“We are just trying to weed out crime the best way we can,” the police chief said.

But one Bradenton man, who has been arrested three times on Longboat Key for drug possession, said he refused “to be weeded out.”

“I’ve seen the Longboat Key, Lido Key, St. Armands Key Chamber of Commerce ads,” he said. “I can always just ‘Take the Trolley.’”
 

MINI PROBLEM

Last summer, Bay Isles residents who had SunPass Mini toll-road stickers affixed to their windows found that the toll stickers were rendering the SmartPasses they used to enter their communities useless. And it appears that the SunPass Mini has the same effect on the license-plate recognition system.

For these residents, police have devised a streamlined system to help residents get on and off the island. Residents with a SunPass Mini will need to show police two forms of photo identification, a sworn affidavit of residency, two consecutive utility bills and an LBK bumper sticker affixed to the back of their vehicles to gain access to the island.

(Drivers who prefer not to tarnish their vehicles with bumper stickers will be permitted if they have a save-the-dolphins or save-the-turtles plate.)
Police believe that requiring drivers to provide these documents will have a minimal impact on traffic.

If traffic problems occur, residents will have the option of forming a traffic subcommittee to explore traffic solutions, including installing a roundabout at either end of the island.

“This type of system would ensure that we are not only one of the safest town in America, but the safest town,” the police chief said.

To assist police, various gate guards from Longboat Key condominium will volunteer patrol shifts on a rotating basis.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected]