LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – The Lincoln Police Department has announced it will use a new tool to identify vehicles of interest to police.

Lincoln Police Chief Michon Morrow announced that the ALPRs (Automated License Plate Readers) are now operational after seven months of testing on Friday. The readers, which are part of new dashboard cameras installed in 20 cruisers, use software to read license plates during patrols.

The software identifies license plate numbers and cross-references them with the LPD database. If it detects a license plate involved in a potential crime, the software will alert the officer in the vehicle.

In that seven-month trial, officers used the tool in a homicide investigation, recovering 30 stolen vehicles and returning $180,000 in stolen property.

Photos taken from the camera will only be stored for 180 days unless needed in ongoing investigations, Morrow said.

The Lincoln Police Department has now joined several agencies across the state that are deploying the cameras and software.

Morrow noted that the plate readers weren’t sure. The only bug they encountered was the software incorrectly identifying the condition on a license plate if it was covered in mud or other substances. Lincoln police stressed that officers will need to double-check what their readers caught during any investigations.

The seven-month trial ran from March 15 to October 15, and the cameras are now in full use.

Financially, it costs $208 per vehicle, per month.

If you want to know more about plate readers, you can go to department page for an even deeper breakdown.

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