Title
Gainesville Police Department Automated License Plate Reader (B)
This items requests the City Commission to approve a $45,000 expenditure from Federal Law Enforcement Contraband Forfeiture Trust Fund to purchase an Automated License Plate Reader.
Explanation
GPD is requesting that $45,000 from the Federal Law Enforcement Contraband Forfeiture Trust Fund be used for the purchase of an Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Veriplate. Currently, the Alachua County Sheriff's Office is using this product.
ALPR is a device that can be affixed to a vehicle and read the license plates on other vehicles that it comes in proximity to through infra-red scanning. Once read, those tags are compared to FCIC / NCIC lists for wanted vehicles. In the event the vehicle shows a want (for example if it was entered into FCIC as stolen, or involved in another crime) the ALPR will issue an immediate warning to the operator so they can take the appropriate action.
The tags read by the ALPR can also be compared to a list of tags the purchasing agency "banks" in a computer data base called the "back office." In other words, the purchaser can flag vehicle tags as it deems necessary. There are many applications in this area but as an example a narcotic unit may create a list of known offender's vehicles. If the ALPR reads a tag from the list it will advise the operator. The ALPR can also create a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly report of the instances the ALPR read the known offenders tags that will include when and where within a couple of feet. This assists the investigators in numerous ways.
Another use for ALPR technology would be to create a list of possible witnesses immediately following a major crime. For example if a homicide occurred in a populated area the ALPR could be dispatched. The ALPR could be used to canvas the area of occurrence as the investigation is occurring. The tags read could be listed later in a report and the owners could be cont...
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