GA gets license plate scanners
04-11-10, 09:49 AM
#1
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GA gets license plate scanners
http://www.mycountypaper.com/clayton.../90431974.html
By Joel Hall
jhall@news-daily.com
Police in Morrow are looking at vehicles in the city with new sets of eyes.
This week, police began using two Mobile Plate Hunter (MPH) 900 devices.
The system features three patrol-car-mounted, high-speed cameras, each with the ability to capture 20 license plate numbers per second and instantly cross reference those numbers with the Georgia Crime Information Center’s (GCIC) database of stolen cars, Amber Alerts, and missing persons reports.
The units verbally relay suspicious license plate numbers and car-owner information to officers, allowing them to remain focused on driving.
“It’s an amazing technological tool,” Morrow Police Chief Jeff Baker said. “The officers download a hot sheet of Amber alerts, stolen cars, missing persons ... it [the MPH 900] will scan licenses in front, in the back, and coming on the opposite side of the street. With this technology, we can drive around the city in 30 or 40 minutes and scan almost every license plate in the city.”
Three months ago, according to Baker, Morrow received a $38,500 grant to purchase two MPH 900 units. Each unit is valued at approximately $19,000.
Baker said the technology will be a boon to the city’s law enforcement efforts.
Steven Hedley, field operations manager for ELSAG North America, the maker of the MPH 900, said the Morrow Police Department is now one of 17 jurisdictions in Georgia using the devices. He said the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology the devices use was developed 15 years ago by the Italian postal service for reading ZIP code numbers.
“That technology was married with camera technology, and the Mobile Plate Hunter was born,” Hedley said. “The Morrow Police Department basically has the ability to scan every plate that goes by them. If a victim reports a car stolen, they can enter a license plate and description of the car, and they can go on the hunt for the car. Normally, without this technology, a person could drive a stolen car right past him if the officer wasn’t paying attention. This tells them, ‘No, they should look at this car.’
“The added safety is that the officer doesn’t have to take his eyes off the road,” Hedley added. “It makes his job safer and more efficient.”
On Friday morning, Morrow Police Lt. K. Sutton tested his new MPH 900 in the parking lot of Southlake Mall, picking up more than 400 license plate numbers in a span of 20 minutes. He said that before the technology, a place like a mall parking lot would provide cover for car thieves.
“We actually got a stolen hit on the first day we ran the demo about a month ago,” Sutton said. “[In] high-traffic areas like this, people will leave stolen cars, because a car won’t stand out in a mall. This does more work than I or any other officer could do. It’s giving law enforcement the ability to identify more stolen vehicles and hopefully make more arrests.”
jhall@news-daily.com
Police in Morrow are looking at vehicles in the city with new sets of eyes.
This week, police began using two Mobile Plate Hunter (MPH) 900 devices.
The system features three patrol-car-mounted, high-speed cameras, each with the ability to capture 20 license plate numbers per second and instantly cross reference those numbers with the Georgia Crime Information Center’s (GCIC) database of stolen cars, Amber Alerts, and missing persons reports.
The units verbally relay suspicious license plate numbers and car-owner information to officers, allowing them to remain focused on driving.
“It’s an amazing technological tool,” Morrow Police Chief Jeff Baker said. “The officers download a hot sheet of Amber alerts, stolen cars, missing persons ... it [the MPH 900] will scan licenses in front, in the back, and coming on the opposite side of the street. With this technology, we can drive around the city in 30 or 40 minutes and scan almost every license plate in the city.”
Three months ago, according to Baker, Morrow received a $38,500 grant to purchase two MPH 900 units. Each unit is valued at approximately $19,000.
Baker said the technology will be a boon to the city’s law enforcement efforts.
Steven Hedley, field operations manager for ELSAG North America, the maker of the MPH 900, said the Morrow Police Department is now one of 17 jurisdictions in Georgia using the devices. He said the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology the devices use was developed 15 years ago by the Italian postal service for reading ZIP code numbers.
“That technology was married with camera technology, and the Mobile Plate Hunter was born,” Hedley said. “The Morrow Police Department basically has the ability to scan every plate that goes by them. If a victim reports a car stolen, they can enter a license plate and description of the car, and they can go on the hunt for the car. Normally, without this technology, a person could drive a stolen car right past him if the officer wasn’t paying attention. This tells them, ‘No, they should look at this car.’
“The added safety is that the officer doesn’t have to take his eyes off the road,” Hedley added. “It makes his job safer and more efficient.”
On Friday morning, Morrow Police Lt. K. Sutton tested his new MPH 900 in the parking lot of Southlake Mall, picking up more than 400 license plate numbers in a span of 20 minutes. He said that before the technology, a place like a mall parking lot would provide cover for car thieves.
“We actually got a stolen hit on the first day we ran the demo about a month ago,” Sutton said. “[In] high-traffic areas like this, people will leave stolen cars, because a car won’t stand out in a mall. This does more work than I or any other officer could do. It’s giving law enforcement the ability to identify more stolen vehicles and hopefully make more arrests.”
04-11-10, 03:39 PM
#6
I think this is a good thing. I'm not worried since 1) I don't live in Georgia, and most importantly 2) I have nothing to hide.
I could care less if they scan my license plate as nothing will come up other than a legally registered car with no warrants. If it catches anyone running illegally registered cars, or stolen cars, or anything like that I'm all for it. Get those illegal cars off the road to make room for the rest of us and catch those criminals.
I could care less if they scan my license plate as nothing will come up other than a legally registered car with no warrants. If it catches anyone running illegally registered cars, or stolen cars, or anything like that I'm all for it. Get those illegal cars off the road to make room for the rest of us and catch those criminals.
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04-11-10, 08:19 PM
#10
Lexus Champion
It's fine for the Po-Po to use thise, but just wait until this technology gets into the hands of the private sector. People can kiss their privacy good-bye.
Imagine if some company can harvest all this info and sell it to anyone who wants to pay them for access. A stalker's dream come true.
Imagine if some company can harvest all this info and sell it to anyone who wants to pay them for access. A stalker's dream come true.
04-11-10, 08:27 PM
#11
It's fine for the Po-Po to use thise, but just wait until this technology gets into the hands of the private sector. People can kiss their privacy good-bye.
Imagine if some company can harvest all this info and sell it to anyone who wants to pay them for access. A stalker's dream come true.
Imagine if some company can harvest all this info and sell it to anyone who wants to pay them for access. A stalker's dream come true.
04-11-10, 08:39 PM
#12
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APD and GSP have had these for awhile on their cruisers.
I thought, it was rear radar at first until I found out what they were....
Anyone else from ATL notice that Dekalb now haves radar guns that look like binoculars?
I thought, it was rear radar at first until I found out what they were....
Anyone else from ATL notice that Dekalb now haves radar guns that look like binoculars?
Last edited by Corey140; 04-11-10 at 08:49 PM.
04-11-10, 09:52 PM
#14
Most of them already do that if they have the time. Still though, that swapped plate will come up as stolen or invalid since any moron who finds his license plate missing from his car would probably report it and/or get a new one. In my state that means new numbers unless you have personalized plates. Once he gets new plates it should come up as an unregistered license plate. Unless the thief is stupid enough to use his own legit license plate from his car on the car he stole.
04-12-10, 07:10 AM
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It would actually be good to run the plates to see if the car has insurance too. My brother and I have been hit 4 times the past 8 years with people who have no insurance.