Metro News Release
For immediate release: August 30, 2010
Metro Transit Police use tag readers to identify stolen cars and car thieves
Crime in Metro parking lots declines
License plate readers mounted to Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) vehicles are helping to reduce crime in Metro parking facilities, including vehicle thefts and vehicle break-ins.
The MTPD has eight tag readers and uses them to catch car thieves, as well as identify stolen vehicles, individuals wanted for crimes, vehicles used in serious crimes, and vehicles or individuals on the national terror watch list. The readers also help with coordinating efforts among police agencies in the region.
The MTPD has used tag reader systems successfully to identify car thieves who were in or around Metro parking lots, locate specific vehicles, identify suspects’ vehicles and recover stolen vehicles. In addition to identifying stolen cars, the equipment has helped MTPD officers locate area chop shops, arrest people with outstanding warrants, connect individuals to other crimes and track crime trends.
The tag readers, mounted to the backs of MTPD cars, use cameras to capture license plate numbers. The tag reader system immediately processes the license plate numbers through national and local databases to identify vehicles of interest. It also can verify vehicle registration information. For example, the license plate reader system uses the tag number to check vehicle registration information and determine whether the vehicle’s registered owner has outstanding warrants.
MTPD acquired the tag readers in 2009 as part of a Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments grant that provided the license plate reader systems to law enforcement agencies throughout the region.
There were 152 vehicle thefts reported to the Metro Transit Police in 2009, down from 181 in 2008. The number of attempted vehicle thefts also fell to 79 in 2009 from 101 in 2008. Metro has parking for roughly 60,000 vehicles in its 50 parking lots at 42 Metrorail stations in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
News release issued at 10:47 am, August 30, 2010.