Central Police using new tech to help fight crime

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Law enforcement agencies are using license plate reading cameras also known as LPR to help solve crimes.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office tells us the cameras have assisted in more than 80 open cases, but they aren’t the only department using the new tech to catch criminals.

The Central Police Department has had plate reading cameras for a month, adding about 9 LPRs near each of the city’s entrances.

“Since we’ve had the cameras up, we’ve had several stolen vehicles go by these cameras. It gives an alert to our officers that’s working and our dispatcher. It actually makes a tone on their computers where they know a vehicle with some type of warrant or stolen vehicle has gone by the camera,” said Roger Corcoran, Central Chief of Police.

The LPR system alerts law enforcement when a car that has a felony or warrant attached to it passes in front of the reader.

The camera then sends out the specific location, time, date, and a photo of the rear end of a vehicle.

Every person that drives by a license plate reader is caught on camera. If the license plate is clean, the photos are deleted in 30 days.

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