No Work Done, So Darien Ending Camera Deal

DARIEN, IL – Darien hired a company to put up 22 license plate reader cameras three years ago. But the work never got done, the city said.

On Monday, the City Council plans to vote on terminating its contract with Vigilant Solutions. Under an agreement, the company is set to refund the $82,279 that the city paid.

In an email to Patch on Friday, Police Chief Greg Thomas said Vigilant's problem was said to be with getting permits from the DuPage County Department of Transportation.

Thomas said he was not sure who to blame. He said he would prefer not to call out the county because the city's new proposed camera vendor, Flock, will need to get permits.

"Bottom line for me is, it has been three years and the cameras have not been installed," Thomas said. "Flock believes they can get the permitting done and has cameras throughout DuPage County. If Flock is capable of getting the cameras installed, then the problem of permitting was most likely with Vigilant."

The 22 cameras and solar panels sat in the police station for much of the last three years, he said.

The chief said the city of Darien has no license plate reader cameras in town. Such cameras read license plates and alert police to cars connected to crimes.

Vigilant Solutions is a division of Motorola.