The Arizona Republic, 7-25-05
If you had your car stolen lately, cross your fingers that
the auto thief is rolling through Mesa.
The city will become the first in the state next month to start using a system that allows police to effortlessly scan hundreds of car license plates an hour to find stolen ones.
The $25,000 Mobile Plate Hunter 900 is already in use in states including Ohio and even in Italy.
The city will become the first in the state next month to start using a system that allows police to effortlessly scan hundreds of car license plates an hour to find stolen ones.
The $25,000 Mobile Plate Hunter 900 is already in use in states including Ohio and even in Italy.
Mesa police auto theft Detective Dennis Thomas said the
cruiser roof-mounted camera system lets police cover a parking lot for
stolen cars while keeping their eyes out for other problems.
"The officer can continue looking for other things, while this device detects," he said.
The system will be one more tool authorities have to battle Arizona's auto-theft problem. The state has the nation's second-highest per capita auto-theft rate.
The system includes a mobile magnetic scanner with three cameras. The cameras focus in different directions and move so fast that a patrol car can cover a shopping center parking lot in about an hour, said Thomas.
The images are sent to a computer that runs the license plates against the Department of Public Safety's stolen-car list. If there is a match, an alarm sounds to alert the officer.
Right now, police officers must manually type in each car's license plate number and it's a hit-or-miss method, Thomas said.
Paul Boelhauf, deputy director of the Arizona Auto Theft Authority, which gave Mesa a grant to buy the system, described the technology as similar to that used at ports of entry by the U.S. Customs.
"We know the technology works, so we are expecting it to work here," he said.
Mesa is buying the system from Remington Elsag Law Enforcement Systems LLC, in Madison, N.C.
The system has been used by in Italy for more than three years and came to the United States a year ago when Ohio police purchased it, according to Marcie Golden, business developer for the company.
"It's like having another officer on board," Golden said. "Several state agencies and police departments have used it and recovered hundreds of stolen cars and plates successfully."
The firm says the scanners can read license plates from all 50 states and Mexico and functions day and night and in all weather conditions.
The state auto-theft office is planning to have all departments in Maricopa and Pima County eventually use the device, Boelhauf said.
Thomas said departments including Scottsdale, Tempe, Phoenix, Gilbert and Chandler have expressed interest in the system.
Reach the reporter at tina.shah@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-7851
"The officer can continue looking for other things, while this device detects," he said.
The system will be one more tool authorities have to battle Arizona's auto-theft problem. The state has the nation's second-highest per capita auto-theft rate.
The system includes a mobile magnetic scanner with three cameras. The cameras focus in different directions and move so fast that a patrol car can cover a shopping center parking lot in about an hour, said Thomas.
The images are sent to a computer that runs the license plates against the Department of Public Safety's stolen-car list. If there is a match, an alarm sounds to alert the officer.
Right now, police officers must manually type in each car's license plate number and it's a hit-or-miss method, Thomas said.
Paul Boelhauf, deputy director of the Arizona Auto Theft Authority, which gave Mesa a grant to buy the system, described the technology as similar to that used at ports of entry by the U.S. Customs.
"We know the technology works, so we are expecting it to work here," he said.
Mesa is buying the system from Remington Elsag Law Enforcement Systems LLC, in Madison, N.C.
The system has been used by in Italy for more than three years and came to the United States a year ago when Ohio police purchased it, according to Marcie Golden, business developer for the company.
"It's like having another officer on board," Golden said. "Several state agencies and police departments have used it and recovered hundreds of stolen cars and plates successfully."
The firm says the scanners can read license plates from all 50 states and Mexico and functions day and night and in all weather conditions.
The state auto-theft office is planning to have all departments in Maricopa and Pima County eventually use the device, Boelhauf said.
Thomas said departments including Scottsdale, Tempe, Phoenix, Gilbert and Chandler have expressed interest in the system.
Reach the reporter at tina.shah@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-7851
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**COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
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