Automated camera license plate scanners in police cruisers added to crack down on stolen vehicles.
Automated license plate scanners are being installed in a number of Toronto Police cruisers to detect stolen vehicles or drivers with suspended licenses or in poor standing.
Police Chief Myron Demkiw said the Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras will automatically scan and detect license plates in the surrounding area of a police cruiser.
The cameras will be installed on the windshield of police cars and scan thousands the plates of vehicles hourly in front of the cruiser to detect stolen cars, suspended drivers, expired plates, validation tags, or plates associated with persons with outstanding Canada-wide warrants or who are reported missing.
Every 34 minutes a high-end vehicle is stolen in Toronto, with most ending up overseas for sale.
The measure is intended to reduce the 12,000 cars that were stolen last year, or one every 34 minute that is ripped off in Toronto, police said.
There has been an outcry from Toronto community residents to stop the violent vehicle thefts in which thieves break windows or front doors to enter a home to violently steal the car keys from homeowners in late-night thefts.
Police said the ALPR camera will send out a signal if there is a ‘hit,’ and the officer will be required to stop the vehicle to conduct checks.
The thieves even follow motorists home to steal their cars right from their driveways in broad daylight.
Police said the camera will be able to access an Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Canadian Police Information Centre “hot list,” which is a data base that contains millions of license plates in poor standing.
If there is a hit, the officer will receive basic information about the vehicle and the registered owner such as the make, model and colour of the vehicle, and the name, gender and date of birth of the owner.
The officer must verify all information within the hit before taking any enforcement action. Hit information is retained in accordance with provincial and municipal privacy laws.
Demkiw said there has been 68 carjackings so far this year.
Police say the ALPR cameras can search millions of license plates in databases for stolen or expired ones.
“That’s a 106 per cent increase compared to the same period last year,” he said. “We are putting a significant amount of resources to address this citywide, and have seen an escalation of violence, threats and intimidation, where weapons are being used to steal vehicles.”
“Break and enters for auto thefts continue to rise. There have been 34 incidents so far this year compared to 22 for all of last year,” said Chief Demkiw.
In one theft on March 16, a balaclava-wearing man approached a person in a mid-town parking lot, pulled out a weapon and robber her vehicle at gunpoint. He was nabbed soon after and charged with a string of offences.