Tyler

By CINDY MALLETTE
Staff Writer

Tyler city marshals will start digitally recording license plates using cameras mounted inside their vehicles beginning today.

City officials say the technology is designed to instantly check license plate numbers against a database to identify vehicles of interest to law enforcement.

"The automatic license plate recording system is the latest in law enforcement technology, and we will equip all marshal's vehicles with it," Cam McCabe, municipal court administrator, said in a written statement. "We are excited to be one of the first to utilize this new technology that will help make our marshals more effective when serving warrants."

Along with warrants, city marshals will use the new system to place boots on vehicles with outstanding parking tickets and to identify stolen vehicles. Information captured by the system will be downloaded to the Tyler Police Department's database for use in crime analysis. Ms. McCabe said the police will probably use the information to identify potential suspects and witnesses to crimes.

"Officers can look at cars that have come through a specific area during certain periods of time," she said. "Even if someone has not committed a crime, they might be a witness."

Tyler's City Marshal's Office is the first of its kind to use this system to track down Class C infractions, Ms. McCabe said.

"This is fairly new, and we're the only marshal's office to use it," she said.

The ALPR software is capable of recognizing license plates across multiple lanes of dense traffic moving at speeds of more than 110 miles per hour, city officials said. It has the ability to process four vehicles per second. When the software identifies a vehicle of interest, officers receive an alert and they can respond.

"The ALPR software is on the cutting edge of advancements in law enforcement technology. It can be used to prevent and deter crimes ranging from auto theft and burglary to terrorism, drug trafficking and homicide," said Benny Yazdanpanahi, city of Tyler chief information officer. "Officers equipped with this state-of-the-art technology can be much more effective, which will lead to reductions in crime and a safer community."

According to the city, the new software costs $125,000 and was paid for through the Municipal Court Technology Fund.

The fund, created under state law, is made up from a portion of the money paid to the Municipal Court on every ticket.

A camera, part of the new Automatic License Plate Recording software for law enforcement, rests on the top of a police cruiser Monday in Tyler. The hi-tech cameras photograph license plates while software displays information about the car and owner on a computer in the cruiser.
(Staff Photo By Mark Roberts)