Regional surveillance system will record license plate images on major roads

Five years after toddler Nalani Johnson was kidnapped and murdered, license plate readers that law enforcement officials say could have saved her will be installed in numerous municipalities across Westmoreland County.

The readers will be part of a multicounty surveillance network spearheaded by district attorneys and local law enforcement officials.

North Huntingdon is slated to be the first community to get them in Westmoreland County as part of a network, followed by Rostraver and Murrysville, said Melanie Jones, a spokeswoman for Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli.

In all, the county plans to install 20 license plate readers at high-volume intersections in Derry Township, East Huntingdon, Hempfield, Murrysville, North Huntingdon, Penn Township, Rostraver, Unity, Washington Township and Youngwood.

“The cameras help us to solve crimes,” North Huntingdon police Chief Robert Rizzo told the township commissioners recently. “They help us find victims and help us make victims complete by solving their crimes.”

Commissioners approved an agreement with the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office to receive $26,000 for the license plate readers, the computer system to operate them and software licensing for one year.

North Huntingdon Commissioner Rich Gray abstained in the vote. He said he could not support the initiative because of concerns over how the plate readers would be used — or possibly misused.

“I cannot willingly walk in a surveillance state of the nation,” he said.

The impetus for the cameras to be placed along major highways connecting Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, including routes 22 and 30, came from the Nalani Johnson case. Nalani, 23 months old and from Penn Hills, was kidnapped by a Penn Hills woman who police say was in the beginnings of a romantic relationship with Nalani’s father.

The woman, Sharena Nancy, drove off with Nalani in her car after an argument with the toddler’s father. Nancy smothered the child and left her strapped into her car seat in the woods off Route 22 in Indiana County.

Nancy pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and kidnapping and was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison.

“They (law enforcement) were tracking the defendant that took her,” said North Huntingdon Commissioner Ron Zona, who is the chief detective for the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office. “They were tracking the car with (license plate readers) in Allegheny County. Once she crossed into Westmoreland County, they lost the car. They could not find it.

“The girl was found several days later in Indiana County, deceased. (Nancy) killed her.”

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala wanted neighboring counties to be part of that plate reader network, Zona said. Zappala, Ziccarelli and police chiefs met to discuss the initiative.

The effort expanded after the initial meetings and was taken on by the Western Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, which became a driving force in the multicounty initiative, Rizzo said.

“The entire nexus of the project was to bring all the counties together to share information so that we can connect together. The network is not good unless it is a network,” Rizzo said.

Seven counties are involved, as well as Youngstown, Ohio, said Laurie Delaney, a spokeswoman for Zappala.

The police chiefs had numerous meetings to discuss where the plate readers would be best located, Rizzo said. There will be two plate readers in North Huntingdon intersections, but Rizzo declined to say where they would be.

“There’s (plate readers) throughout Westmoreland County, but they’re limited in basis. This project was to increase that number and tie everyone together in a multicounty region using the same vendor,” Rizzo said.

Images captured by the license plate readers would be stored for 30 days and then erased, with the exception of the image of the license plate itself. After five months, that would be erased, too, Rizzo said.

A spokesman for Secure Technical Solutions Inc. of New Kensington, which is supplying cameras for North Huntingdon and Murrysville, declined to comment on his company’s involvement in the project.

In addition to money for plate readers in North Huntingdon, the county allocated $42,000 to Murrysville and $74,000 to Rostraver. Both municipalities are connected to Allegheny County through major highways: Route 22 in Murrysville and Route 51 in Rostraver. Those communities have approved agreements with the district attorney, according to municipal officials. The county will work to install the readers in other areas, once those municipalities approve agreements with the district attorney, Jones said.

Rostraver police Chief Scott Sokol and Murrysville police Chief Tom Seefeld did not return phone messages seeking comment.