Police get 'extra set of eyes'
License plate reader installed
by ELIZABETH TAUFA Reporter

Captain Patrick McKenna adjusts the mobile plate reader that was recently installed on an Amherst Police patrol car. The device can read up to 1,500 license plates per minute.

The Amherst Police Department now has a new weapon for keeping offenders off the roads.

In August, the police department obtained a mobile license plate reader camera, which has been attached to one patrol car.

Since then, Capt. Patrick McKenna of the Traffic Bureau has been working with various officers to train them to use the new equipment.

"We hope to have many more individuals who are driving illegally removed from the road or apprehended," McKenna said.

McKenna applied for the $17,100 grant through the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services in February of 2007. The grant was approved in May.

The plate reader can scan 1,500 license plates per minute, taking pictures of each plate. The plates are then compared to a database of wanted vehicles. If one of the scanned plates is in the system, the driver can be apprehended without having committed a traffic infraction or crime, as was the case previously.

The database contains plates of suspended or revoked drivers' licenses, McKenna said. Licenses can be suspended for an uninsured driver, failure to pay a fine, failure to answer a summons or failure to pay child support.

The database is updated everyday by the New York State Police Information Network.

The device is also helpful in finding stolen cars or license plates.

"We've found some suspended licenses," McKenna said. He noted that the device also helped police arrest a suspect in a strong-arm robbery case.

Since being installed, most of the work the police have done with the device has been for training purposes.

"Almost everyone on the afternoon shift has been trained on it, quite a few on the day shift and we're still working on the midnight shift," McKenna said.

According to McKenna, the best way for the device to work is to have the patrol car it is attached to stationary, with other patrol cars around it. That way, when a plate from the database is found, the other patrol cars can apprehend the offender.

"It's too hard with the traffic to look for the car while in motion," McKenna said.

The device is also useful in crime situations where a license plate, or partial license plate, has been reported by a witness.

In such cases, like Amber Alerts, the license plate can be put into the system by a laptop in the patrol car, which allows the officer to be alerted if the offender's car is found.

"It becomes an extra set of eyes for the officer," McKenna said.

While McKenna is hoping that the device will make a difference by making offenders more accountable, the Amherst Police Department is not looking to secure any more plate readers.

"We're only allowed one grant process in a year," McKenna said. "But other jurisdictions have them, too."

McKenna noted that joint operations with adjoining agencies, as well as the state police, are also being planned.

e-mail: etaufa@beenews.com