With tools, every job becomes easier and more efficient.
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office uses a device that assists law enforcement with rapid, sometimes life-saving speed. This tool is called LPR (License Plate Recognition).
License plate readers have been around since 1976, when the first reader was developed in England.
Sheriff Rob Milby and Chief Deputy Joe Croft agree that it is a valuable tool in fighting and reducing crime.
According to industry vendors such as Axon, License Place Recognition (LPR) technology has become an industry standard that has proven to be an effective and efficient way for law enforcement agencies to impartially detect, solve, prevent and deter crime.
This real-time alert gives officers a much higher chance of catching criminals in the act.
Here’s how the cameras work: The LPR takes a photo of the license plate and sends that image to a database where police departments maintain a “hotlist,” a directory of license plates that authorities are looking for. It could be a stolen car, a vehicle used in a crime, or the car of a person wanted for breaking the law. The database is linked to the NYS DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) and is updated twice a day.
License plate recognition systems automatically capture an image of a vehicle and the vehicle’s license plate, convert the license plate image into alphanumeric characters using optical infrared character recognition, and compare the captured license plate to one or more databases (also known as “hotlists”).
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office recently received a $249,000 law enforcement technology grant from the Department of Criminal Justice to equip its marked vehicles with even newer technology. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office’s stationary license plate readers and associated annual software costs are costly, but they are increasingly being integrated into the units’ existing camera systems.
When the LPRs first became available, Sheriff Milby admitted to being one of the first to purchase the system. “The initial purchase price of $16,000 included two stationary units to be mounted on a vehicle. That cost has risen to $18,000 for each individual camera, or $36,000 per vehicle. “We’ve had our units for about 12 to 13 years, and they’ve always been funded by grants, not county or agency funds. Officers have to be trained to use the system.
Twelve of the Sheriff’s Department’s marked vehicles are currently equipped with LPRs, and modern technology now allows the cameras already used in patrol cars to be integrated into the license plate reading function.
While driving down the road, the reader will notice any “hit” on a stolen car or a car being sought as part of an investigation. This helps identify a missing person’s vehicle or find a stolen license plate. It can even help track down sex offenders.
In case there is any doubt about the legality of using this technology, Sheriff Milty points out that New York State gives law enforcement the authority to check license plates without suspicion of a crime. He cited case law: People vs Bushey 2017.
“Driving on public roads is a privilege, not a right,” the sheriff explained.
“I became so convinced of its usefulness as an essential crime-fighting tool after the LPR system helped us locate and arrest Timothy Dean, the perpetrator of the October 2018 double homicide in Sodus.
“The software connects us to the DMV system, takes a photo of the vehicle, records it and also gives us an overview of where the vehicle has been.”
He noted that the Axon camera system they use is now integrated with the deputies’ body cameras. It’s the same company that provides the software. The latest upgrade now allows us to go from 12 vehicles that currently use the ELSIG brand exterior cameras to integrated software with the cameras already in our parked cars.
“We currently use 12 exterior-mounted units, but will soon be able to support 62 patrol cars with the license plate reading capability,” said Chief Deputy Croft.
Even a portion of the license plate number can be helpful in 911 crime investigations. One data analysis found that police cars with LPR technology showed a 140 percent higher ability to detect stolen cars.
However, it is still an officer’s job to apprehend a wanted person. That may mean detaining them, arresting them, or getting a stolen car off the street. Technology finds cars, but the arrest still has to be made by law enforcement.
They are an additional pair of trained eyes and an effective and efficient tool.
