Canton Police Make Use of Cruiser Equipped With License Plate Reader

Earlier this month, Canton Police became the first area department to make use of a regional law enforcement vehicle equipped with a License Plate Reader. 

The Ford CV includes three mounted cameras that scan passing license plates and related infrastructure that loads the numbers into a mobile data terminal. 

The License Plate Reader (LPR) system automatically checks all captured plates for criminal and/or motor vehicle wants or violations as programmed, Canton police Chief Christopher Arciero said.  

“The deployment of the LPR vehicle is a culmination of the positive collective efforts of the nine North Central Municipal Police Departments to improve the provision of law enforcement services to their respective communities," Arciero said. “Access to the regional LPR vehicle will allow Canton Police officers to be more effective and efficient in identifying vehicle registration plates that are stolen, expired, suspended or ‘wanted’ in connection with an investigation.”

If the system detects such a violation, it alerts the officer and puts the information on a separate portion of the screen. 

It also takes a photo of the license plates, allowing the officer to make sure the numbers scanned accurately. 

During a quick demonstration Tuesday, Mark Montefalco said the officer still has to verify the information through a police dispatcher but said it's nearly 100 percent accurate. (Due to privacy, Patch was unable to show the screen). 

Its use has led to several motor vehicle tickets and in some cases additional charges, Montefalco said. 

"It's very useful," he said. "It's worked very well for us." 

The vehicle is available to departments in Avon, Simsbury, Canton, Granby, Windsor, Suffield, Farmington, Bloomfield and Windsor Locks on a rotating basis. The vehicle is also a fully equipped police vehicle. 

The vehicle was funded through the North Central Municipal Departments efforts to use grant and asset forfeiture funds.