As law enforcement agencies take advantage of advanced technologies, the opportunities for using data from the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) to help with investigations increases greatly.
One of these technologies, License Plate Readers (LPRs), captures license plate images by using external trigger signals. LPRs may be mounted on patrol vehicles or placed in fixed sites such as at border crossings, interstate highway on-ramps, and toll booth plazas.
LPRs read retroflective and non-retroflective license plates, capturing plate images and automatically generating and archiving lane
and date information as well as a time stamp for each image. The information is then searched against specified databases that can aid in the identification and recovery of stolen vehicles. Database responses can be used to control access to specific locations or to cross-check for access violations.
NCIC vehicle data used by LPRs
| Also as a result of the LPR technology, surveyed agencies located a total of 818 subjects listed in the Wanted Persons File and 19 people included in the Missing Persons File. Another 2,611 persons were apprehended |
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The NCIC data supplied to agencies for use with LPRs includes vehicle information from the Vehicle, License Plate, Wanted Person, Protection Order, Missing Person, Gang, Known and Appropriately Suspected Terrorist, Supervised Release, and Immigration Violator Files and the National Sex Offender Registry.
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The extract is compiled and refreshed twice a day and is provided to participating agencies via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or secure e-mail.
The LPR Program was approved in June 2004 by the CJIS Advisory Policy Board (APB) and successfully piloted by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Currently, 46 states, the District of Columbia, 33 local agencies, and 1 federal agency have formal agreements with the FBI to receive the NCIC information for the purpose of using LPRs.
Agencies share usefulness of NCIC vehicle data
