Wellington County OPP has stepped up its equipment arsenal in a bid to quickly identify vehicles with invalid and stolen licence plates.
The newest gadget being tested by police is a computer tied into the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) database and a camera system capable of reading licence plates of moving and stationary vehicles from a cruiser equipped with three mounted cameras – two at the front, one at the rear.
Sergeant Bob Uridil, head of the OPP traffic unit, said 24 officers have been trained to operate the equipment on a 24-hour basis. The vehicle is making the rounds of OPP detachments from Windsor to Tobermory and is in the county for an undisclosed time.
Uridil said two officers are required to operate the system on roadways, while one officer is needed when the cruiser is stationary.
“I was on the road less than two hours and I had seven violations,” he said of a test run on Aug. 29 before the equipment was unveiled to the media.
Detachment commander Inspector Scott Lawson said the equipment is capable of scanning 7,000 licence plates per hour, but in the county the maximum scans will probably be between 2,000 and 3,000 per hour due to terrain and the amount of traffic.
According to Uridil, an officer will hear a “bing” as licence plates are scanned and an alarm if something irregular is registered with a plate.
Once an alarm sounds, it is up to the officer to determine whether a vehicle can be safely stopped.
After a vehicle is stopped, police will conduct a regular investigation using information provided by the MTO, which has some seven million licence plates in its database.
Lawson said the equipment is not capable of reading plate stickers covered in mud or snow.
“These plates are chargeable for us anyway,” the inspector added.
Uridil said the advantage is that plates can be scanned rather than officers having to rely on their own vision. The infrared cameras can also read plates after dark.
Lawson is quick to point out the system does not violate privacy policies, with only offenders being checked.
The inspector said particular procedures – which might include sending out a notice of a violation to the registered owner of a parked vehicle – will be considered by the local force as the test run continues.
The system will also track stolen vehicles and vehicles involved in alert warnings, the latter of which are usually used in cases of child abductions.
Lawson pegged the cost of equipping a cruiser at between $100,000 to $200,000.
