Skip to main content

LPR used by law enforcement to solve crime

Licence plate recognition (LPR) technology is a powerful tool that helps law enforcers solve crimes and save lives, according to a new survey of law enforcement professionals. The survey, conducted by Vigilant Solutions on behalf of public policy advocacy organisation NetChoice, also revealed that there are strong protections in place to prevent against LPR misuse. The survey polled 504 law enforcement professionals from around the US on their agencies use of LPR technology. More than 87 per cent of respond
August 7, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Licence plate recognition (LPR) technology is a powerful tool that helps law enforcers solve crimes and save lives, according to a new survey of law enforcement professionals. The survey, conducted by Vigilant Solutions on behalf of public policy advocacy organisation NetChoice, also revealed that there are strong protections in place to prevent against LPR misuse.

The survey polled 504 law enforcement professionals from around the US on their agencies use of LPR technology. More than 87 per cent of respondents reported that LPR technology had been instrumental in investigating crimes and more than 60 per cent reported that LPR had saved lives in their community.

More than 99 percent of the law enforcement officers polled said that they knew of no instances in which colleagues misused LPR data. More than 90 percent reported that abusing LPR technology for personal purposes would cost them their jobs.

Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice said the findings point to a technology marketplace that is working precisely as it should.  "Technology mandates are almost never a good idea," DelBianco said. "Again and again we've seen that the technology marketplace evolves to meet challenges faster and more elegantly than the legislative process ever could."

Related Content

  • July 24, 2023
    Navigating the data privacy landscape
    If customer data is not protected then the journey towards better, less polluting public transport solutions is likely to be delayed, warns Alexis Suggett of Cubic Transportation Systems
  • January 31, 2012
    Enforcement a key part of the road safety solution
    The Partnership for Advancing Road Safety is a new organisation set up in the US to push the national debate on speed and intersection safety, something which hitherto has been absent. Here, executive director David Kelly explains the organisation's work. With moves to address drink/drug driving and the wearing of seatbelts starting to prove successful in the US, the use of inappropriate speed and poor driving at intersections have become responsible for a proportionately greater number of the deaths and in
  • January 26, 2012
    Is GIS modelling the answer to the implications of age?
    Geoff Zeiss of Autodesk talks about the convergence going on between GIS and other software systems which will revolutionise the design and construction of nations' utilities. The issue is that we're getting old. But forget the discovery of body hair in places it never used to be, whether or not to dye, contact lenses versus glasses - in fact, put aside entirely the decision to age gracefully or outrageously; the personal implications pale next to the effects on wider society. Faced with the problem of how
  • February 2, 2012
    Gothenburg to implement congestion charging
    Gothenburg, which is line to become Sweden's second major city to implement congestion charging, will not enjoy the pre-deployment trials and referendum which Stockholm did. But, says the STA's Eva Söderberg, this is less of an issue than might be imagined