TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Smarter In-Car Police Video Helps Nab Crooks

Dennis McCafferty | Date: 12-09-09 | Comments

Federal Signal's Automated License Plate Recognition solution scans license plates at speeds up to 100 mph, helping to catch everyone ranging from parking fine dodgers to the most dangerous offenders.

When it comes to catching criminals on camera, one can�t help but think of the low-grade, grainy videos shown on TV shows like World�s Wildest Police Videos. And law enforcement officials have certainly struggled in recent years with the technical limitations of in-car video and data systems. The upshot: The systems are often too slow and undependable to keep up during hot pursuits of drunk drivers, robbery suspects and other crooks on the lam.

But Oak Brook, Ill.-based Federal Signal has improved this technology with an Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) solution that scans license plates at speeds up to 100 mph, to catch everyone ranging from parking fine dodgers to the most dangerous offenders.

The technology has already reaped results: In suburban Cincinnati, the ALPR system identified the license plate of a vehicle used by an armed robbery suspect. By running this information through available databases, investigators found that the vehicle belonged to a man with a history of incarcerations. The video footage also revealed unique, telling markings on the vehicle�which would have been impossible using older, more primitive video systems. The ALPR system then allowed police to �map� all sightings of the vehicle and predict where the suspect was most likely to drive. Police quickly tracked down the vehicle and made an arrest.

�Our experience with this kind of license plate recognition technology has opened my eyes to new capabilities,� says Capt. Jeff Butler, of the Cincinnati Police Department. �I�m looking forward to seeing how this can further help us protect our community.�

Advanced virtual digital recorder technology developed by Federal Signal allows for the elimination of extra hardware to store video data. Instead, that data is integrated with existing mobile data systems, and computer-aided dispatch and records management systems that police departments, sheriff�s offices and other law-enforcement agencies maintain. This feature makes it easier for officers to run vehicle/personal information through the National Crime Information Center to determine whether a local suspect has a criminal history anywhere in the country.

The system also provides options such as automatic vehicle location, street-level mapping, fleet tracking, remote video viewing and chat functions for police units involved in a case.

Federal Signal�s technology is now being used on a global scale, with customers including law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. and Europe. But its technology solutions involve far more than simply video/data systems. Additional examples include tech support provided during the inauguration of President Obama through a system that connected security teams in the field with IP-based cameras, wireless communications and secured alert/notification tools.

Federal Signal also has developed digital siren technologies for customers such as Duke University in Durham, N.C., that provide both outdoor warning sirens and electronic alerts via computers, phones, pagers and other communications devices to all registered users on and around campus.

�This kind of �layered communication� approach ensures that the message is delivered as broadly and expediently as possible,� says John Von Thaden, a general manager at Federal Signal.