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For about three years, an officer in one Fremont police patrol car has been riding around the city snapping images of license plates and downloading associated information into a massive database that one day may help police solve a major crime, police say.
While it has yet to play a role in such a case, the program still is considered a success, police say. That's because the main purpose for using the $20,000 technology — made by PlateScan Inc. of Newport Beach — is to help police recover stolen vehicles.
To date, more than 75 stolen vehicles have been recovered, some of which might have gone undetected if the city weren't using the PlateScan program, Lt. Mark Riggs said."Stolen vehicles is a major issue for us," he said. "We were looking for technology to help us recover more vehicles."
The PlateScan system was purchased about three years ago, at a time when the city and county were being hit hard by auto thieves. The program uses four cameras and object-recognition software to read and record license plates on vehicles, both moving and stationary.
Using a computer terminal already built into a patrol car, the four cameras — three affixed to the roof, one in the rear window — to read license plates. The software then records the information and almost instantly runs
Advertiseent it through a statewide database of stolen-vehicle license plates. If a plate is listed as stolen, the officer is alerted within seconds.
"(The computer) kind of starts buzzing," said Officer Tim Baldocchi, one of a handful of officers trained to use the program.
The cameras and software do most of the initial investigative work as the officer drives down the street or through a parking lot, or sits on the side of the road. If a plate is deemed suspicious, the officer must call dispatch to confirm that the plate still is listed as stolen before taking action, the officer said.
During his first full day of use, Baldocchi said the program helped him arrest a parolee who was driving a stolen vehicle. That man was released just days earlier after serving a stretch for vehicle theft, the officer said.
As a side effect of the program, the department also has built a database of license plate information, Riggs said.
"You can query the system and it'll tell you where and when you saw that plate," he said.
Up to this point, the system has aided in capturing suspects in only minor cases.
Just last month, police said, investigators used the database to catch a man who ate a late-night meal at a restaurant and then fled without paying. A witness wrote down part of the car's license plate number, and within minutes officers were at the man's home making an arrest, Riggs said.
But hypothetically, the system could aid in solving more serious crimes like bank robberies, assaults or even homicides.
Ideally, the department would like to have the car in service all day, with the sole purpose of searching for stolen vehicles, Riggs said. But because of staffing issues, that's not feasible, he said.
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