'Electric Eye' Identifies Car Thieves At 55 MPH

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The Denver Channel

Posted : Mar 17, 2007

AURORA, Colo. -- Thanks to new technology, Aurora police can see a stolen car coming -- even when it's on the move and in a different lane.

The infrared license plate reader instantly scans multiple lanes of highway traffic, alerting officers to stolen vehicles, and outstanding arrest warrants.

Before the suspect even knows it, the chase is on.

But because police know exactly which car or truck they're looking for instantly, they can radio ahead and stop the chase before it really gets going.

That was the case Thursday at about 4:30 p.m. on Interstate 225. Aurora police got a hit on a stolen car, called other officers ahead between Colfax and Sixth avenues, who then stopped southbound traffic, surrounded the suspect car with multiple undercover units, and made a quick arrest.

"It's going to be twofold, threefold the arrests they make now, because like I said, you don't have to go around looking," said Lt. Troy Edwards of the Aurora Police Department. "It looks for you as you are driving around."

The technology was tested and perfected by postal technology company Elsag in Genoa, Italy.

Police there have been using the plate readers for more than four years.

Elsag has partnered with the Remington Arms Company in Madison, N.C., to manufacture and supply the devices at a cost of more than $25,000 to law enforcement groups across the U.S.

Aurora police have two of the Mobile Plate Hunter 900s. The Colorado State Patrol also has two.

Spokesmen for both agencies said they believe these are the only four plate readers in use now in Colorado.

Infrared cameras on the patrol car read more than 800 license plates in an hour. They instantly transmit information to a laptop computer inside the car, beeping whenever a stolen plate is recognized.

That gives the officer the exact year, model, make and color of the car, along with a possible suspect name, any outstanding warrants and whether the vehicle is stolen.