PRYOR, Okla — Officials with the city of Pryor have spoken out about the need for their license plate readers after the Oklahoma Department of Transportation has begun telling cities to take them off state highway right of ways.
2News' Isabel Flores reached out to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) and received this statement:
Mayes County officials now hope ODOT can give them clearer answers as to what they can do to keep using these resources.
Pryor Police Chief Jeremy Cantrell said the license plate readers are set up on utility poles owned by the city, so he thinks there is a possibility the department can keep the readers where they are.
“I think there's some some gray area there, as far as whether that's ODOT policy, where there's political push, what are they're getting?" he said. "But my main concern is public safety as an elected police chief, you know, I'm here to ensure that I can do the best job.”
Because of this "gray area", Pryor city leaders are still looking for answers.
Chief Cantrell said the readers help with situations like amber alerts, missing person cases, catching violent or sexual offenders and even protective orders.
In September, 2News covered the death of a 15 year-old boy in Mayes County due to a fatal hit-and-run:
Chief Cantrell confirmed police were able to apprehend the person responsible for driving the semi truck that crashed into the boy using license plate reader technology.
He also said he fought to install the readers to take advantage of the new technology as an extra set of eyes- especially as the Pryor Police Department has become understaffed.
Mayor of Pryor, Zac Doyle, agrees the license readers are needed.
“Two things that the city of Pryor really wants to keep in mind and provide for our people are safety and quality of life,” he said.
He said with the confusion surrounding the utility poles, he needs to get answers as to whether or not the city can keep the readers where they are.
“What we want to do is we want to make sure that we're following the law," he said. "In order to follow that law, we need clear and precise direction as to what that law is exactly.”
As of now, Cantrell and Doyle are still corresponding with ODOT to find out what the next steps will be.
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