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In a recent morning in Paterson NJ, the camera scanned over 3,000 plates per hour, and found 35 which were "wanted" in some way. I've seen the NJ State Police using this technology on I-80. One officer holds the camera to scan oncoming / going away traffic, while two or three more hang down the road to go after suspects.
QUOTE
In Passaic County, two new sheriff's cars are already on patrol equipped with the rooftop cameras that automatically scan every license plate on both sides of the street. The camera takes a picture of the vehicle and the license plate — then feeds the information to computer mounted on the front seat.
An alarm sounds if the license plate is listed on either the state or national "hot list" of vehicles that have expired registrations, unpaid tickets, or an owner wanted by police. The federal list, which is a compilation of all 50 states, includes about 50,000 convicted felons who have eluded capture.
Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale said, "This is technology that is on the cutting edge." And, he said of his department's equipment, "The best thing about it: It didn't cost the taxpayers a dime."
Speziale said the department bought the cars and the technology, known as PIPS (short for Pearpoint Image Processing Systems), for about $86,000. The cars were bought with proceeds from drug seizures by his department and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. Speziale said $16.1 million in drug money was seized in the county in 2009, with Passaic County keeping $3.8 million and the federal government getting the rest.
500 plates a minute
Bergen County is in the testing stage with the PIPS technology on county police cars, said Sherri Hensley, communications director for the county. Hensley said the county Prosecutor's Office is testing the effectiveness of the technology and will decide whether to use it.
Fast facts
The PIPS system uses infrared technology to scan license plates that is similar to technology used by E-ZPass.
The new PIPS cars can scan 500 license plates a minute. All a police officer has to do is put the car in drive, and as the vehicle moves, the cameras scan both sides of the road, day or night.
If police are looking for a particular suspect or vehicle, they can manually enter the license plate into a computer. An alarm sounds if they encounter the vehicle.
An alarm sounds if the license plate is listed on either the state or national "hot list" of vehicles that have expired registrations, unpaid tickets, or an owner wanted by police. The federal list, which is a compilation of all 50 states, includes about 50,000 convicted felons who have eluded capture.
Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale said, "This is technology that is on the cutting edge." And, he said of his department's equipment, "The best thing about it: It didn't cost the taxpayers a dime."
Speziale said the department bought the cars and the technology, known as PIPS (short for Pearpoint Image Processing Systems), for about $86,000. The cars were bought with proceeds from drug seizures by his department and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. Speziale said $16.1 million in drug money was seized in the county in 2009, with Passaic County keeping $3.8 million and the federal government getting the rest.
500 plates a minute
Bergen County is in the testing stage with the PIPS technology on county police cars, said Sherri Hensley, communications director for the county. Hensley said the county Prosecutor's Office is testing the effectiveness of the technology and will decide whether to use it.
Fast facts
The PIPS system uses infrared technology to scan license plates that is similar to technology used by E-ZPass.
The new PIPS cars can scan 500 license plates a minute. All a police officer has to do is put the car in drive, and as the vehicle moves, the cameras scan both sides of the road, day or night.
If police are looking for a particular suspect or vehicle, they can manually enter the license plate into a computer. An alarm sounds if they encounter the vehicle.
Eyes on the street
