Itsme
10-17-2005, 11:50 AM
License-plate reader gives state troopers instant crime data
By Joe Grata
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
October 17, 2005
State police on the Pennsylvania Turnpike are experimenting with a high-tech device that reads license plates and provides instant crime information.
For example, as soon as Trooper Donald Hardeman pulled over a Honda Accord racing down the toll road at 91 mph in Chester County, an infrared TV camera identified the vehicle as stolen and posted the information on a screen on his console.
He called for backup to help remove the three occupants, who were arrested.
The Motorola Automatic License Plate Reader "gave us a tactical advantage," said Lt. Adam Kisthardt of the Pennsylvania State Police technology bureau in Harrisburg.
The manufacturer chose the Pennsylvania State Police for the test and, without charge to the state, has installed cameras and support equipment on seven turnpike patrol cars.
The units are expected to cost about $12,000.
"The cameras can read in snow, rain, in bright sunshine or total darkness," Kisthardt said. "They read the reflective lettering and numbers on plates and, in a split second, compare the image to information in the CLEAN network," the statewide database where law enforcement agencies post stolen vehicles, fugitives, all-points bulletins and Amber alerts.
For a match that's made instantly, a photo of the wanted vehicle is posted on the screen mounted inside the police car to indicate a "hit."
"The beauty of the system is this: As a trooper drives down the road or sits along the road, the equipment reads every license plate he encounters and runs it through the system," Kisthardt said.
By Joe Grata
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
October 17, 2005
State police on the Pennsylvania Turnpike are experimenting with a high-tech device that reads license plates and provides instant crime information.
For example, as soon as Trooper Donald Hardeman pulled over a Honda Accord racing down the toll road at 91 mph in Chester County, an infrared TV camera identified the vehicle as stolen and posted the information on a screen on his console.
He called for backup to help remove the three occupants, who were arrested.
The Motorola Automatic License Plate Reader "gave us a tactical advantage," said Lt. Adam Kisthardt of the Pennsylvania State Police technology bureau in Harrisburg.
The manufacturer chose the Pennsylvania State Police for the test and, without charge to the state, has installed cameras and support equipment on seven turnpike patrol cars.
The units are expected to cost about $12,000.
"The cameras can read in snow, rain, in bright sunshine or total darkness," Kisthardt said. "They read the reflective lettering and numbers on plates and, in a split second, compare the image to information in the CLEAN network," the statewide database where law enforcement agencies post stolen vehicles, fugitives, all-points bulletins and Amber alerts.
For a match that's made instantly, a photo of the wanted vehicle is posted on the screen mounted inside the police car to indicate a "hit."
"The beauty of the system is this: As a trooper drives down the road or sits along the road, the equipment reads every license plate he encounters and runs it through the system," Kisthardt said.