Officials welcome addition of second license-plate reader dedicated to LCF streets
Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies now have one more tool in their crime-fighting arsenal, after the recent addition of an Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) vehicle unit, funded by the La Cañada Flintridge City Council in its Fiscal Year 2017-18 budget.
Mounted on a sheriff’s Ford Explorer patrol unit, the device allows deputies to read the license plates of nearby vehicles as they drive and can record information at speeds up to 80 mph.
“It scans the license plates of vehicles around it and compares that data to a list of stolen vehicles,” Capt. Christopher Blasnek explained the hands-free technology in a Feb. 21 city release. “If a plate is recognized as being stolen or associated with a crime, the ALPR unit warns the deputy in the car.”
The unit captures an image of a license plate number and transforms that image into alphanumeric characters that are then compared to a database of plate numbers belonging to vehicles that have been stolen or are associated with a crime. When numbers match, the deputy on patrol is alerted.
In addition to identifying stolen or wanted vehicles, the technology can also assist with locating suspects of criminal investigations or individuals with outstanding arrest warrants and finding missing children or other missing persons tied to particular vehicles through an Amber or Silver alert, according to the release. It can also subsequently be used to place vehicles at the scene of a crime, once reported.
The new Explorer unit was deployed on Feb. 6. It is the second vehicle in the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station’s fleet that is dedicated to serving La Cañada Flintridge. The unit was budget to be leased for a five-year period, with an annual cost of $4,675.
For more information, call (818) 790-8880 or visit www.lcf.ca.gov.
Twitter: @SaraCardine
