By Debra Friedman
Connecticut Post Online
GREENWICH, Conn. — Creeping through a municipal parking lot in downtown Greenwich Thursday morning, Sgt. John Slusarz used more than just his eyes to spot potential crimes or violations -- he had a high-tech camera acting as his partner.
The new Mobile Plate Hunter 900 system, installed on two police vehicles, can accurately scan up to 3,600 license plates per minute, instantly comparing them with law enforcement databases.
“It’s really doing a great job for us in locating stolen vehicles, aiding in criminal investigating and collecting money for the town” from traffic violations, said Slusarz, who has been in charge of installing and training officers with the new camera system. “It is able to do a lot of things in a relatively simple operation. It is a very exciting piece of equipment.”
The cameras have only been on the road for a few weeks, but Slusarz said they have already canvassed numerous crime scenes and picked up a few thousands dollars worth of ticket violations.
The town purchased two cameras, one for a patrol car and another for a traffic enforcement truck, using money from an asset forfeiture fund, police said. The cameras cost approximately $20,000 apiece and are becoming increasingly popular with police departments nationwide. The system is also in place in Norwalk, Stamford, Waterbury and Hartford, police said.
The cameras are positioned on the back of the patrol car and on top of the truck. One side of each unit emits a red laser that scans the license plates while the other side acts as a receptor processing the data. When the machine finds a violation, it sounds an alarm and a computer announces the type of violation.
During a ride-along Thursday afternoon, the camera sounded when it picked up an SUV in a parking lot that owed $250 in parking fines. However, the SUV driver lucked out when Slusarz found out they had just paid the fines a few hours before.
The camera heads out on the central Greenwich patrol car each day and night shift, and usually locates stolen cars and those with unpaid fines. However, the machine can be a lifesaver in certain situations, like when an Amber Alert comes out or police are tracking down a violent criminal. If police have the license plate of a suspect, they can program it into the system and it will alert police if that car drives by the camera, no matter how fast it is moving.
The camera can also record cars passing by or parked as police head to the scene of a crime, mapping out the area.
“As units respond to burglaries or alarms, the thieves in all likelihood could be driving by right then,” said Slusarz. “If perpetrators are driving away, (the camera) will capture (the license plate). Then when detectives develop a suspect, we can see the list and see if their vehicle was there.”
Lt. Mark Marino, who heads up the police department’s criminal investigation division, said having that kind of investigative tool is tremendous.
“When I first started, we always scoured the neighborhood and wrote down the license plates on parked cars,” said Marino. “It was very labor intensive. Now we can have a car swing through and within minutes it records everything in the area so we can widen the range and have a more accurate reading of whose in the area.”
Allen Corry, director of parking services, said the cameras have helped his department keep track of those who fail to pay parking tickets in town. “I’m glad Greenwich has it because it saves a lot of time with my officers and trying to identify the scofflaw violators,” said Corry. “The system has been very helpful.”
Slusarz said while some people might take the cameras as an invasion of privacy, the practice is something police do routinely, but now only faster and more efficiently.
“The police department looks at license plates all the time,” Slusarz said. “It is part of the public domain. It is not an invasion of privacy.”
With two cameras, Slusarz said the ability to canvas major highways and roadways is a major boost to public safety, and could make the difference between catching a criminal and letting them get away.
“If we have information a suspect is driving on the highway, we can set up vehicles on both sides and pretty much canvas that entire area,” said Slusarz. “It enables us to set up that last line of defense.”
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