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Local authorities get high-tech assistance

Local authorities get high-tech assistance

License plate readers help identify criminals

Beacon Journal

By Rick Armon

Thursday, Feb 11, 2010

Police throughout Northeast Ohio are getting some new ''bionic eyes'' to help catch criminals.

The Summit County Emergency Management Agency/Division of Public Safety is buying 15 mobile license plate readers to hand out to sheriff's offices and police departments in nine counties.

The license plate readers are infrared cameras mounted onto police vehicles. They can scan thousands of license plates an hour and check the plates against national and local criminal databases, even while the police vehicle is moving.

The system instantly alerts authorities to any felony or misdemeanor involving the vehicle, making it easier to identify stolen vehicles and fugitives.

''This is an extra set of bionic eyes out there working for us,'' Summit County Sheriff's Inspector Bill Holland said.

The county, which helps oversee public safety grants in the region, is using $257,250 in federal money to buy the devices.

''We're glad we're going to be able to keep up with the technology that's out there,'' said Lori Pesci, the county's criminal justice coordinator.

Authorities around the country, including Norton police and the State Highway Patrol, already use license plate readers. Several agencies rave about the systems and say they improve safety for the officer and have led to additional arrests.

''It has worked out fantastic,'' Norton Sgt. Jay Nagy said. ''I can't think of a better tool for law enforcement.''

How it functions

The system works like this:

The infrared cameras — up to four can be installed — take a photo of the vehicle, scan the license plate and run the plate against national and local police databases, looking for problems associated with the vehicle.

Both the police car and the vehicle can be moving or stationary.

If a problem is detected, an alarm goes off on the officer's in-car laptop or computer. A photo of the vehicle, license plate number, suspected crime involving the vehicle and location of the vehicle pop up. The officer then can follow up.

The system also compiles a database of all the license plates it encounters, meaning authorities can check back to see whether a wanted vehicle ever crossed their path.

The system frees officers and dispatchers from checking plates against criminal databases by hand.

It also gives authorities an extra tool while searching for specific vehicles, such as ones used in child abductions.

There are plenty of other uses.

In Norton, Nagy programmed the system to keep an eye out for registered sex offenders when police drive near schools.

The State Highway Patrol has cameras stationed at some tollbooths to nab wanted criminals who use the Ohio Turnpike.

Other agencies have used them to keep an eye on potential terrorism activities at airports. Some cities and universities have targeted tax and parking scofflaws.

Civil liberty concerns

Wherever the mobile license plate readers have popped up, so has some anxiety about ''Big Brother'' technology moving in and civil liberties being violated. Law-enforcement officials dismissed those concerns, though, noting that law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear.

While the system might help catch criminals, it also could be used to exonerate people, they said.

''We're looking at license plates anyway,'' Summit Sheriff Drew Alexander said. ''We're just doing it with the human eye.''

He said he likes the system because it can improve safety during traffic stops by alerting officers immediately to a potential problem.

''It gives that officer a little bit of an edge he needs,'' he said.

Alexander and Holland said the mobile license plate readers also can't be accused of profiling.

''This is just the opposite of profiling,'' Holland said. ''I can't say, 'I don't like that car or that person.' It runs everybody.''

Sheriff's offices and police departments that will receive the devices are Summit, Medina, Portage, Stark, Wayne, Ashland, Mahoning, Richland, Trumbull, Akron, University of Akron, Wooster and Youngstown. Akron and the Summit sheriff are getting two each.

There has been so much interest; the county probably will use additional federal money to buy more for other agencies.

The Summit County EMA/Division of Public Safety is buying the systems — the MPH-900 Mobile Plate Hunter — fromELSAG North America of Brewster, N.Y. The company says it operates in all 50 states and around the world.