Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology arms law enforcement with real time knowledge and post-action criminal intelligence increasing the day-to-day productivity and safety of Port Employees, Business Partners and Customers. ALPR is an image-processing technology used to identify vehicles by their license plates. It is a special form of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) where algorithms are employed to transform the pixels of the digital image into the text of the number plate Systems commonly use infrared lighting to allow the camera to take the picture at any time of day. One of the fastest growing applications is the deployment of ALPR systems by law enforcement agencies across the country to identify persons or vehicles whose license plates are connected to a crime or infraction. Cameras, mounted to stationary structures such as gates or bridges, automatically take photos of license plates at the rate of hundreds per minute. The characters in the photo of the plate are then translated into letters and numbers and compared to law enforcement databases of registered vehicles known to be or suspected of being involved with crimes or infractions. If a license plate that was read matches an entry on a database, the license plate reader system will alert the officer or command center that a suspect vehicle is in the immediate area of that LPR system. License plate recognition systems utilize algorithms in order to identify a license plate, take a clear image, translate its characters and identify the state that issued the plate. Generally speaking, License Plate Readers (LPRs) can record plates at about one per second at speeds of up to 100 MPH. With 70% of all crime connected to a vehicle, deploying an ALPR system to assist with a wide range of missions will help your agency realize remarkable successes, including the power to make the difference between life and death in a crisis. Automatic LPR technology is proving to be a force multiplier so powerful that its positive impact on the safety and security of our communities and nation is undisputable.
