LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) are cracking down on crime in Henderson. The Henderson Police Department just added dozens of them (54) to major intersections and has them in some of their patrol cars (18). On Monday, HPD sat down with FOX5 to explain what the cameras are looking for.

“Typically, a patrol officer when they’re driving down the road and they want to put a license plate on a vehicle, they would have to get on the radio to call the dispatcher and they would run the information and if the vehicle was running. hot list or in the system as a stolen vehicle, then the dispatcher will respond back. This automates that where the officer drives down the street or a vehicle passes by a location that has a fixed ALPR system, it automatically reads that information and if the plate is on that hot list, it will automatically notify our dispatcher and notify the officer. ,” explained Lt. Tony Niswonger, Commander of the Investigative Services Division for the Henderson Police Department.

The software checks the plates against a “hot list” that looks for stolen cars, stolen plates, vehicles linked to criminal activity or missing and endangered persons.

“If we have a subject of interest that’s wanted in a homicide, for example, we can enter the associated vehicle into the system… If that plate happens to populate the system, it will alert that officer,” Lt. Niswonger described.

Regarding privacy issues, license plate readers only focus on license plates and the data is only stored temporarily. The readers do not provide surveillance of the people inside the vehicle.

“The data is removed after a certain period of time if it is not deemed worthy of a criminal or civil case,” revealed Lt. Niswonger.

HPD reports: “The data captured by the ALPR unit itself is completely anonymous. Officers can only identify the registered owner of a vehicle by querying a separate, secure state government database of vehicle number plate records, which is restricted, controlled and audited.”

Even if they are pulled over by a plate reader, an officer will not automatically pull over a car until they verify the accuracy of the dispatch information.

Cameras can be moved as needed. HPD received a grant from state and local tax recovery funds to expand its automatic license plate reading system. HPD has been using the technology in a limited capacity since April 2011.

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