When public safety and our digital way of life collide, we end up with law enforcement turning to computerized technology to help fight crime. It sounds like a plot for a futuristic sci-fi movie, but it is what may become our modern day reality. Police departments all over the nation have recently been introduced to the technology of Automatic License Plate Readers (A.L.P.R.) to assist officers while on street patrol. The utilization of this crime fighting technology has law enforcement and civilians disagreeing on the purpose, capability and effectiveness of this modern day robo-cop, the creation of A.L.P.R.
A.L.P.R.’s original purpose was combatting auto theft, location and recovery, along with other crimes associated with vehicle registration and license plate details, such as arrest warrants on registered owners. It is intended to assist officers on patrol and serve as their electronic crime fighting super tool. A.L.P.R.’s have purposes that are yet to be discovered and are expected to deliver great potential. However, cracking down on non-violent offenders should not be a priority, according to civilians. Victimless offenses is not where the focus of public safety should centered. The extra training, funding and technology associated with A.L.P.R. could be aimed at locating and arresting violent criminals, or even toward the prevention of violent crimes before they occur. When discussing the safety of the public, civilians agree that stolen cars and unpaid traffic violations are not the crimes that would require computerized assistance.
A.L.P.R. can be utilized in a reactive or analytic manner. Studies show that they can scan more license plates in one hour than an officer could scan in a week. This technology not only scans license plates and vehicles but also compares the plates against what is being called a “hotlist” of an array of infractions, while taking photographs in any given environment, documenting location via GPS satellite technology, then...