Cops to install plate readers
DOWNTOWN Police officers will be getting an extra pair of eyes in the new year.
Police Chief Timothy Jackman plans to purchase a small camera that will be able to automatically scan hundreds of license plates per minute and inform officers if a particular car is stolen or has been used in a crime.
The Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) technology is widely used throughout law enforcement, and is credited with helping officers solve scores of crimes, Jackman said.
Recently, an ALPR system in San Jose identified a license plate on a vehicle that was wanted for being used in the kidnapping of a young girl. After the system alerted police of the vehicle, officers verified that it was wanted, stopped the driver and found the kidnapped girl inside.
“What officers do now is run license plates manually through computers in their cars,” said Eric Uller, SMPD’s lead public safety systems analyst. “When an officer is driving, it becomes very difficult for them to do this. The technology will allow them to focus on their driving while looking for other (suspicious activity).
“This will be a huge time saver because the technology can scan license plates much faster than any human can.”
The cost of the camera and the infrastructure to support the technology is estimated at around $20,000. Additional cameras can be added to patrol cars for far less money. The SMPD will start out with one camera in January or February 2008. The camera will be mounted near the emergency lights of a patrol car.
Officers can gauge how helpful the technology is before deciding whether or not to expand the program. Cameras could be mounted at the entrance of parking structures as well as on the roofs of patrol cars, Uller said.
“I know agencies that do have fixed and mobile cameras and other agencies out there use these for parking scofflaws,” Uller said. “There are a lot of opportunities to use this technology.”
Information that is scanned is run through a criminal justice database. If there is a match, the ALPR system sends an audible and visible alert to the officer via their mobile computer and concurrently sends an alert to dispatch so that it can be verified before any enforcement action is taken.
Those concerned about Big Brother should know that the information capture is stored in a database only accessible to staff authorized by the chief of police and may only be used for criminal or internal investigations, Uller said.
The SMPD already has security cameras installed at the Santa Monica Pier, Third Street Promenade and in parking structures owned by the city to help prevent thefts and monitor suspicious activity.
The SMPD is currently working on adding cameras to three intersections in town where drivers are known to run red lights. The City Council approved a red light camera pilot program in September.
Reaction to the license plate technology was mixed. Some drivers were concerned about “Big Brother” becoming more aggressive, while others welcome the added security.
“If my car was stolen, I would want the police to do whatever they could to get it back,” said Rolando Sanchez, as he walked out of Parking Structure No. 7 at the Santa Monica Place mall. “Wouldn’t you?”
Ben Song didn’t share the same sentiments.
“Why do they have to keep an eye on you all the time?” Song asked. “I think this is going too far.”
Viri Flores is somewhere in between, feeling that Santa Monica is already a safe community with plenty of police officers on patrol, so she doesn’t really see a need for cameras to automatically read license plates.
“I think it’s a bit invasive,” Flores said. “But if that’s what the police say they need, then OK. I just think it is a little extreme.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 16, 2007. Read the original PDF.