How Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) Works
You may not have realized it, but Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) technology is all around us. It is used for toll collecting, to control access to parking lots and even to capture criminals. The technology has improved over the years and has become more economical.
Besides the analytic software that converts the image to computer characters, the system requires a good IP camera. It also requires proper lighting and the correct physical placement of the camera.
It’s always rewarding to find that one of the technologies we specialize in has been cited in a story. Wednesday, November 12 was just such a day.
An article in The Journal News which covers our area, New York’s lower Hudson Valley bore the headline Harrison Cops Bust Cul-de-sac Burglary Ring.
The arrests came after a two-month long investigation by the Harrison, NY Police, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Organized Crime Division, and the Special Investigation Squad of the Bergen County, NJ Prosecutor’s Office into what grew to be twenty-five break-ins in the tri-state area. The burglary ring would strike the expensive homes between 10 AM and 1 PM, when no one appeared to be at home, to steal jewelry and other property, often hauling away safes that contained them.
Seven burglary suspects were taken into custody as well as a Diamond District Dealer who was acting as ring leader and “fence.” The capture could not have happened without the cooperative effort of the three agencies who trailed the suspects for weeks into nearby New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, using the latest forensic technology to obtain evidence – video from IP security cameras, and information obtained from police license plate readers.
