Camera Scans of Car Plates are Reshaping Police Inquiries, Blog post #12, 4/15/11

Blog post #12 Article posted: April 11, 2011 One new gadget that has been very beneficial to police officers is the invention of the license-plate cameras. I have seen plenty of monitors in police cars along the years and it has made me be even more cautious of everything about the vehicle I drive. In the article for this week, New York and New Jersey have been happy with the decrease in criminal activity with the help of this device. Statistics show that reports of car theft has dropped by more than 7,000. If this device is making such a difference in these two states I wonder how it is affecting every city, town, state, or nation that has them. The article says that these devices can be found in many locations in or on a police car. The most common place is on the back of a police car. They are also designed to capture small areas and are aimed at a low angle to be able to see the license plate clearly. This device, with the help of other devices that can be found in a police car, have been making the issue of crime diminish in large numbers as I have mentioned earlier. For example, in the article it mentions two young men that were caught before they committed a crime. One important thing that I’m not sure some criminals realize or remember is that your license plate can determine almost everything about you because it’s registered. I believe that all police cars should have this device in every town, in every part of the world because of the difference it is making or could make with crime rates. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/nyregion/12plates.html?pagewanted=2&ref=crimeandcriminals