License Plate Recognition Cameras Help Fight Crime
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) -- Nearly two dozen cars are stolen each day across Minnesota.
Now police have additional crime-fighting tools to find them while patrolling the streets. License Plate Recognition cameras are now mounted on squad cars. It's the latest in crime fighting technology.
"So this is a read on this particular plate here, it's an image of just the plate. It takes a color picture of the plate and then takes that information and transfers it into letters and numbers here," said Sgt. Mark Elliott with the Bloomington Police Department.
They scan license plates and alert officers if they match ones listed in the federal and state database.
This, police say, is instrumental in finding stolen vehicles and people who are wanted by police. Another 21 law enforcement agencies got that crime-fighting technology on Tuesday through the State Department of Commerce.
