Technology Helps OPP Check Every Plate

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Terry Wilson in National News // 0 Comments

By: Sarah Sacheli
windsorstar.com

Big Brother is watching, and his name is OPP Const. Kirk Jeffery.

Jeffery is patrolling the roads and highways of Essex County in a camera-equipped cruiser that snaps a photo of every single licence plate that comes within an eight-metre radius.

The three pairs of roof-mounted cameras are connected to an on-board computer that automatically runs the plate information through a database that includes stolen vehicles, arrest warrants, even expired validation stickers.

“Bing, bing, bing, bing.” The display screen sounds like an arcade game as Jeffery drives north on Manning Road. Each “bing” represents a photograph captured by the cameras. The computer can process 30 frames per second.

There’s no way an officer with a partner could ever process so much information. Even on a quiet street with little traffic, “you couldn’t keep up and it’s not safe to even try,” Jeffery said.

The technology is called ALPR, short for Automated Licence Plate Recognition. It has been used in the United States for decades, but it’s relatively new in Canada. The OPP, with five cruisers outfitted with the technology, began using it last fall.

The cruisers rotate throughout the province. Currently, the Essex detachment has one of the cruisers, but it’s due to be shuffled off to another OPP jurisdiction soon.