PCPSO adds more ‘eyes’ on roads with new tools and technology

NEW ROADS, La. (WAFB) - There’s a new tool in the arsenal for the Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff’s Office.

If someone is driving through the parish in a stolen car or they just committed a crime, with the new tool and technology, chances are they won’t get very far.

Law enforcement officials describe it as a critical and valuable surveillance tool, one of many used to track wanted vehicles.

“An LPR is a license plate reader,” said Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff Rene Thibodeaux.

It is the first for Pointe Coupee Parish.

“Our crime rate is not that bad. However, this will help solve crimes in minutes,” added Thibodeaux.

LPRs are cameras mounted all over the parish. They can scan thousands of vehicles and their license plates in real-time.

“Along with LPRs, underneath, they have cameras monitoring 24 hours a day,” continued Thibodeaux.

Let me explain how it works. There are two lenses inside each of the cameras, one lens reads the car and its makeup and the other zooms in on the plate.

“The goal is to circle the parish, then put some at hotpots,” explained Thibodeaux.

Pointe Coupee Parish is about 590 square miles.

With the installation of 15 LPRs, deputies will have additional “eyes” across the jurisdiction.

“Manpower is an issue. There is 24 hours of monitoring highways, businesses, and schools,” said Thibodeaux.

At $6,500 a pop, Sheriff Thibodeaux added it will take a collective effort to get all 15 installed. Funding will come from a private grant, the district attorney’s office, and a police department.

“We have to work together. Nobody has a budget overflowing with money. We have to work together and put money together,” explained Thibodeaux.

And Sheriff Thibodeaux also said after the installations and training, he expects all 15 to be up and running my mid-summer.

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