Automated License Plate Readers

Two vehicles, including the new "Concept Vehicle" that was implemented in cooperation with the Department of Fleet Management, now have Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) that are capable of scanning thousands of license plates per hour and immediately identifying stolen vehicles.

We have recently obtained Secretary of State vehicle registration data, which allows us to identify active warrants and investigative alerts for scanned vehicles. In just several months of use, the ALPRs have scanned 124,276 license plates. This has resulted in 123 recovered vehicles, 26 arrests and numerous guns - including three rifles stolen from the US Federal Government.

Ten (10) additional ALPRs have been ordered for the Special Operations Section (SOS) and Targeted Response Unit (TRU),  in additional to the four additional "Concept Vehicles" soon to be deployed - on per police area.

Source: Information Services Division Technology Update - Summer 2006

Comments

[Jonathan Lewin, Commander, Information Services Division]

The Information Services Division in conjunction with the Department of Fleet Management and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications is now in the process of replacing all end-of-life MicroSlate Portable Data Terminals (PDTs) with Panasonic Toughbooks. The Toughbooks provide high speed wireless access to CLEAR Data Warehouse and other functionality including the ability to retrieve digital mug shots. Soon, incident reporting, mobile crash reporting, field contact cards, and automated citation writing will occur on these new Toughbooks.

Today, over seven hundred (700) new Panasonics have been installed in twelve (12) districts, TRU, and SOS (now in progress). We anticipate the remaining districts will be complete before the end of 2007. Various funding sources are being utilized, including federal homeland security dollars. Over two thousand devices will be replaced when the project is complete. This is a multi-million dollar effort and is our top technology priority.
The Department, working with the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, is now in the process of replacing hand-held portable radios with units capable of communicating on any appropriate frequency, and a plan is being finalized to upgrade the entire radio infrastructure.

Instead of investing in devices which will generate money for the city, how about we invest in devices that will reduce crime?

Or have we forgotten that is our primary mission? There should be a computer in every squad car!!!!!!!!!

great and we can not get pdt's in 24