Paradise Valley hides license-plate reading cameras in cactuses

If you're driving through Paradise Valley and happen to notice a saguaro that looks a bit off, it might not be a cactus at all.

The town is in the process of upgrading some of its public-safety related technology. Most of those infrastructure improvements are new traffic signals and wiring in intersections. However, in the case of three stationary license-plate readers, the cameras are concealed in cactuses.

Paradise Valley Town Manager Kevin Burke said the cameras aren't being covered in cactuses in an attempt to be stealthy.

"We try to be very sensitive to how community looks," Burke said. "So in years past when we've had technology introduced, we've tried to pretty it up. If you drive down Lincoln today, you probably don't notice the six-plus cell phone towers you pass because they're all in cacti. The town is currently upgrading its radio antenna on the mountains and we're using cacti there so it doesn't look like an ugly steel pole."

The town is installing 11 of the license-plate readers. In other locations, such as intersections that have poles and other infrastructure, the devices can be attached to arms on those poles. The steel cacti are going up in places such as a roundabout at 40th Street and Standford Drive, that don't have traffic signals.

Burke said that technology such as license-plate readers as well as photo enforcement and red-light cameras work best when people know that it's there.

"If they know it's there, the behavior is modified," Burke said. "That is what you're ultimately trying to achieve."

The license-plate readers are part of an overall upgrade in public-safety technology in the town. In 2013, a public-safety task force determined the improvements were needed to bring the town's police department on par with other Valley law-enforcement agencies.

In addition to the readers in fixed locations, the town has also added mobile units in police vehicles.

Unlike speed enforcement and red-light cameras, the town does not generate any revenue through the plate readers.

The data collected by scanning passing license plates are matched against a "hot list" of stolen vehicles, those involved in Amber alerts or other criminal activity.

The data is held for 180 days as required by law, Burke said. If it is not needed for a criminal investigation, it is deleted.

Some Paradise Valley residents have been curious about the installation of the steel cacti. Burke said the town had planned to inform the community once they were active.

The devices won't be switched on until more of the infrastructure upgrades are complete.

"It was something the town had been talking about for a couple of years," Burke said. "Admittedly, we probably could have done a better job of letting residents in the area know."