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

  • October 17, 2019
    How can US transportation be ‘re-envisioned’?
    In her address to this year’s ITS America Annual Meeting, congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, chair of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, called for a ‘re-envisioning’ of transportation. Her speech is below – and ITS International asks a number of US experts what they would like to see ‘re-envisioned’…

    I would like to welcome  ITS America to the nation’s capital.

  • December 22, 2015
    US traffic fatalities fall in 2014, but early estimates show 2015 trending higher
    The US saw a slight decline in traffic deaths during 2014, according to the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). However, an increase in estimated fatalities during the first six months of this year reveals a need to reinvigorate the fight against deadly behaviour on America's roads, NHSA says.
  • September 27, 2022
    Tolling Matters: Open your eyes - see the possibilities
    Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, commissioner of New Jersey DoT and IBTTA president 2022, talks to Adam Hill about the importance of mentoring young people - and why it's good to share pivotal experiences
  • March 4, 2014
    US adopts automated enforcement… gradually
    The US automated enforcement market is in rude health as the number of systems and applications continues to grow and broaden. Jason Barnes reports. Blessed and cursed – arguably, in equal measure – with a constitution which stresses the right to self-expression and determination, the US has had a harder journey than most to the more widespread use of automated traffic enforcement systems. In some cases, opposition to the concept has been extreme – including the murder of a roadside civil enforcement offici