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Councilman Greg Stanton
North Central News Column
July 2007
Automatic License Plate Recognition
With our fast-growing city officially recognized as the fifth-largest in the nation, public safety continues to be a top priority for residents, community and governmental leaders alike. The city's recently passed budget reinforces our commitment to this issue, with more than half of the funds allocated to public safety services. In an effort to continue to keep our neighborhoods strong and safe, investing in the latest public safety technology is a critical component of our public safety efforts. The Automated License Plate Recognition System (ALPR) is a new system that will make the process of detecting stolen vehicles much more efficient and effective.
Within the law enforcement industry, identification of license plates has long been an accepted method for locating wanted vehicles and suspects. Traditional methods make it difficult to obtain vehicle plate information from moving vehicles or from vehicles in bad weather or poorly lighted settings and can be time consuming.
This device allows Phoenix police to detect stolen vehicles without entering the license plate number manually. The automated license plate recognition system scans cars using a camera attached to the roof of the car that is connected to a computer inside. The computer will notify the officer if any surrounding vehicles are reported as stolen. The system only checks for stolen cars in Arizona and will not be used to identify outstanding warrants or suspended licenses. The camera can read license plates across four lanes of traffic and is capable of reading as many as 10,000 license plates in one officer’s shift.
Other cities have implemented the same technology, including the city of Long Beach, California. After six months, the city saw a 28 percent reduction in auto theft. The results included 1.4 million plates read, 275 vehicles recovered and 50 arrests made. In just under two months, the Police Department from the city of Hialeah, Florida recovered 33 stolen vehicles totaling nearly $800,000 and made three arrests. In our state, Glendale is moving forward with purchasing the technology, in addition, Tempe and the state’s Department of Public Safety are also considering a possible purchase of the Automatic License Plate Recognition System.
Through investing in the latest technology, vigilance and hard work, we can keep our North Central Phoenix community safe.
Phoenix City Councilman Greg Stanton represents north central Phoenix and is a member of the City Council Public Safety and Veterans Issues Subcommittee. If you have any questions, please call Councilman Stanton's office at 602-262-7491, e-mail greg.stanton@phoenix.gov or visit phoenix.gov/district6.
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