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

  • Asecap Days delves beneath the surface of tolling
    August 8, 2017
    Colin Sowman picks his highlights from Asecap’s 45th annual Study and Information Days in Paris. European tolling association Asecap holds annual Study & Information Days, provides delegates with updates on the latest moves and thinking in the tolling sector and is a key meeting place for concessionaires from 22 countries. The importance of road transport to the French economy was highlighted by the country’s director general of transport infrastructures, François Poupard, in the opening session. He told th
  • Washington releases Vision Zero Action Plan
    December 18, 2015
    Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, in conjunction with the Department of Transportation (DDOT) the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and other city officials, has releases the District’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries to people walkers, cyclists and drivers by 2024. The Plan is the result of an extensive planning process involving 30 government agencies, community groups and residents. It places a high priority on making safety improvements and ref
  • Camera technology a flexible and cost-effective option
    June 7, 2012
    Perceptions of machine vision being an expensive solution are being challenged by developments in both core technologies and ancillaries. Here, Jason Barnes and David Crawford look at the latest developments in the sector. A notable aspect of machine vision is the flexibility it offers in terms of how and how much data is passed around a network. With smart cameras, processing capabilities at the front end mean that only that which is valid need be communicated back to a central processor of any descripti
  • Tolling is a ‘powerful tool to maintain and manage an infrastructure network’
    August 15, 2017
    Officials have recently moved to scrap tolls on several highways for the first time in 40 years, bucking a national trend toward more tolls on mostly urban roadways to shift the costs of transportation to those who use the roads, writes Associated Press. A regional authority voted this week to eliminate tolls on the Cesar Chavez Border Highway in El Paso. On the same day, Dallas city council rejected plans to build a toll road along the Trinity River. The council's action appears to be the death knell for a