What’s the latest technology in high-tech cop cars? High-speed Digital License-Plate Reader!
What’s the latest technology in high-tech cop cars? According to Wired magazine, it’s something called a high-speed Digital License-Plate Reader.
- Here’s how it works: It’s a squad car complete with two roof-mounted cameras, two cameras looking out the rear window, a computer in the trunk, and a computer keyboard and monitor on the dash. It automatically reads the license plate of every car the police unit passes, and compares it to the “hot list” of stolen autos and outstanding warrants.
- Up until now, officers would play what they call the “stolen car lotto.” They pick cars they think are stolen, and manually punch the license plate number into their dashboard computer……Then wait while the computer dials headquarters and checks the “hot list.” But it’s almost impossible to find a “winner” that way. In fact, in Los Angeles, which is the auto-theft capital of America, one patrol officer playing the stolen-car lotto might type in 100 plate numbers during their shift, and get nothing. And if they grab 6 car thieves in a single year, they get an award.
- This automated, digital system can handle up to 240 plates a minute – and nabs an average of 3 stolen cars a day, and 12 car thieves a month. Digital License Plate Readers are being tested in California, Florida, Connecticut, New York, Ohio, and Arizona……In Alabama, cameras and radar systems are automatically writing speeding tickets as violators race by……And in France, the police have doubled their revenue from speeding tickets, and cut speeding-related deaths in half in just two years.
- The Big Brother Robo-Cop car may not be in your neck of the woods yet – but it’s coming. And it means you’ll be safer, and your stolen car will more likely be found……Sounds like progress to me.
4 comments:
However, that is exactly why I have owned my car for over a year and a half now, and I STILL do not have any plates. Yes, safer is better and the police are sure to make leaps and bounds in catching the crooks. I just do not want to be the crook in the next decade or two. Soon there will be a red light camera on every street... now that is no fun.
Carlsbad PD has had a system like this for about 18 months now. It has works very well for them.
LA PD has had it for near a year now, they have had more issues. In the first week of use they were so busy with stolen cars, unregistered cars or plates that many of the officers turned the system off. Because they were spending so much time with petty issues.
I wonder if the costs of implementing many of the new security systems, like the traffic light cameras, are worth the benefits? If we install a traffic camera in every traffic light intersection, for example, can we solve all the kinks.
All I see with this license tracking technology is more technical/upgrading costs down the line. I don't find it too convenient. I know in London, they started using license tracking software in convenient places where rush hour mostly occurs to keep track of traffic violators. This is without the use of police officers, which lowers the cost. It is activated by sensors installed into the road and it signals the cameras to take pictures of the license plates. Then the computer systems behind the entire security system will decode the license plate so that it can be analyzed and examined by the technicians by converting the photographs into text-friendly files.
So i wish they had this system a year ago. My car was the 6th car to be reported stolen in the year of 2007. Wahoo, but not really. This sytem would have been nice to have before... grrrr....
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