License plate readers in use

LOS AL POLICE

The Los Alamitos Police Department and City Council are always looking for ways to increase public safety and ensure a continued quality of life for area residents. To that end, the Los Alamitos City Council approved a oneyear pilot program to lease 12 automated license plate readers from Flock Safety. Since June, the city has been working with the company to identify locations throughout Los Alamitos where the license plate readers will be installed. Installation began Feb. 2 at various intersections in the city.

Automated license plate readers work by capturing vehicle license plate information and filtering it through law enforcement data sources to see if it is a stolen or wanted vehicle. In addition to identifying vehicles associated with criminal activity, vehicles associated with missing or at-risk persons are also identified. Once a wanted vehicle is identified, Los Alamitos police officers will receive immediate notification from dispatch about the vehicle location, direction of travel and reason for the alert. Automated license plate readers have long helped law enforcement solve crimes, recover stolen vehicles and locate missing persons. Law enforcement agencies who use automated license plate readers have reported reductions in both property and violent crimes.

Automated license plate reader technology is limited to collecting vehicle specific information and does not capture images of the driver or interior of the vehicle. All vehicle information not utilized by law enforcement is automatically deleted after 30 days. During this pilot program, arrests and investigations involving the use of automated license plate readers will be tracked so that the police department can report back to Los Alamitos City Council on the efficiency of the program and make recommendations to continue or discontinue the program. For more information, visit www.cityoflosalamitos.org.