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License Plate Scanner A 'Secret Weapon' For Cops
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License Plate Scanner A 'Secret Weapon' For Cops
WCCO- Minneapolis/St. Paul
By John Lauritsen
September 16, 2009
Ever worry that some of the people you share the roads with aren't supposed to be driving? The Minnesota State Patrol is using new technology to catch drivers who hit the road with suspended licenses.
According to the Office of Traffic Safety, someone who drives with a suspended or revoked license is twice as likely to be involved in a fatal crash. Those drivers can be hard to find, but if they pass by Trooper Jonathan Olsen there is a very good chance they will be caught thanks to his secret weapon.
"If I have a car coming up behind me and it picks up the front plate, I have a tone and an alert before the car reaches the end of my squad," said Olsen.
He's talking about the Mobile Plate Hunter 900. It is a fancy name for a system that reads license plates in less than a second.
Cameras mounted on his patrol car take pictures of passing cars and then run them through a database. If a violator passes by, the computer lets him know with a voice alert and a picture of the license plate.
"I am very amazed, very amazed. I had no idea that this technology existed to this degree," said Olsen.
But an alert isn't enough for Olsen to pull someone over. The picture on the driver's license that shows up on his computer has to match the person driving the vehicle. If it doesn't, he will let them go.
The system has made a difference. On a ride-along, Olsen got four alerts in the first six minutes. One driver was not allowed to drive away because of a suspended license. Olsen said this technology has made him five times more efficient.
"Now that I've had this for a month, it's amazing to see that in a course of a 9-hour period I can have over 100 different hits on different vehicles," said Olsen.
The State Patrol purchased Olsen's Mobile Plate Hunter for $25,000. They could purchase additional systems in the future. The Mobile Plate Hunter can also be used for Amber Alerts.
More than 220,000 Minnesota drivers have a suspended, revoked, cancelled or disqualified license. *****
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