Posted on 03/31/2010 10:28:28 AM PDT by Puppage
Branford, Conn. (WTNH) - When it comes to fighting crime police will use any tool they can get their hands on. In Branford , they've equipped one of their cars with cameras that act almost like a set of eyes in the back of officer's heads.
The electronic eyes are specifically designed to read and remember license plates. They are Branford's newest tools for proactive policing.
"Our database is updated every day with the Dept. of Motor Vehicle registration files, so this gives the officer an indication that a vehicle may not be registered properly," Lt. Geoff Morgan, Branford olice, said.
But that is only the beginning because police have noticed a trend. This kind of information doesn't just help cops find people who haven't been to the DMV. It helps them catch criminals.
"Many people that are involved in other types of criminal activity in our community are operating and manuevering in cars that are not properly registered, not properly insured, nor do they have proper licensing," Lt. Morgan said.
To show how the system works, Branford Police took News Channel 8 for a ride both on the streets and through the Walmart parking lot. The thing was beeping like crazy, picking up license plates literally left and right. Most of them come back clean -- no problems. But once and a while there's a hit.
Police can program the system to look for specific plates -- think Amber Alerts or vehicle descriptions from crime scenes. In fact, just last week they caught a suspected shoplifter after a store employees could offer only a partial license plate of the getaway car.
"Because the license plate reader had been through that parking lot moments before, we were able to search that database, come up with the actual registration and actually solve a crime," Lt. Morgan said.
Federal stimulus money essentially paid for these cameras, and at this point only one patrol car equipped with them, but they're working pretty well and Branford police haven't ruled out getting more down the road.
I don't think they need probable cause to run a license plate. They're on the outside of the vehicle for that very reason. It's not like they're actually pulling you over. THEN, they require probable cause.
Having said that, I know where you're coming from.
Criminal activity like "deadbeat dads", the excuse they use to require my socialist security number when I apply to renew my driver's license even though I am unmarried with no kids.
I understand what your concerns are but, an officer can run your tags any time he wants to. In fact, he will run your tags before he even pulls you over......every time.
With the seats in the back!
Of course Eric Holder's injustice department would declare that "harassment" and "intimidation" of voters.
Those seats in the back with the ski-pole like handles look suspicious..enough.
Yeah. It’s also old. Really old in today’s terms. And it’s small. And it’s noisy. And it “.. looks like an illegal car”. In other words, it’s a small pickup truck, which is a favored runabout by the poor who don’t always have insured or registered cars.
Profiling, in other words. And I’m ok with it, I guess. But now if this car or this technology is near me, it will at least show the paperwork without them having to pull me over and ask, all the while making out some ridiculous reason for pulling me over just to check my papers.
Police can program the system to look for specific plates -- think Amber Alerts or vehicle descriptions from crime scenes.
Even PARTIAL MATCHES can be used to stop you.
It's akin to getting all DNA on file and then just running evidence through it to determine who are suspects.
Time was you made a case and proved it through evidence. Now you are accused because "your name came up" and you have to prove your innocence.
The attitude that "everybody's guilty of something" comes through in the line about how tag offenders are likely to have something else in their file.
Those seats are another reason to be pulled over. The seats are legal in the Brat (OEM equipment) but the state of CT requires an insurance rider to be carried by the car while in operation (Not necessarily while just in use, but while they are installed). Without that rider, you get the same charge and procedure for driving with no insurance / insufficient insurance.
The rider is typically $600 +/- a year added to your insurance coverage. Totally not worth it.
“I dont have a problem with it if it us used strictly to locate criminals.”
More than a few folks on FR could get reclassified as criminals in the foreseeable future.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9D9f_ySvkA
I think the dogs are on to something ....
They show a device like this being used on the show Parking Wars on A&E. The Detroit meter maids drive a van down the street, and a camera scans license plates for scofflaws who are supposed to get the boot. Eventually they’d catch up with them anyway, but the techology makes it a whole lot more efficient.
Do these only use CT DMV info, or other states also? Is there some nat’l db?
My Sister in law was in a long line of traffic waiting on left turn signal...cop passed...slammed on brakes...drove over the small median, came around and wedged his car in front of hers. Her driver license had expired 4 days prior.
This was in South Jersey on 73 at Cooper road near Berlin.
Exactly what the Nazis did.
Ya know......that's a very good question.
If I recall correctly, the seats in the back of the Brat were there simply to allow Subaru to import it as a passenger car rather than a small truck, saving a whole lot of taxes (or possibly having something to do with emissions or mileage standards). They were simple to remove and almost everybody did.
feels police statish to me.
Force the tax paying idiots to keep registering the same vehicle over and over and over and over and over....And hire hundreds of thousands of government employees, at tax payer expense, to process these registrations over and over and over and over....
In CT, we also pay a tax on the same car....EVERY year, for as long as we own it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.