New Technology Could Help Catch Uninsured Drivers In Tulsa

By Tara Vreeland, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- With talk of layoffs and cutbacks, it's not the ideal time to talk about investing in new technology for patrol cars. But down the road, mobile license plate recognition could help put the brakes on uninsured drivers.

The product is designed to make a cop's patrol time more efficient. The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office runs 100 plates on a good day.

With this system, one officer could run 100 plates in just minutes.

"This is essentially another set of eyes in the vehicle for the police officer," said Mike O'Brian of CitySync, the company behind the technology.

Mobile license plate recognition is a camera system designed to scan license plates. The captured license plate information is sent through a database. If something pops up - like four outstanding speeding tickets - the officer is alerted.

"It's a force multiplier. It's allowing them to go and do a lot more things," O'Brian said.

For those of you who might be concerned about big brother, if you don't have any violations, a hit won't be triggered, and the officer will not take any action.

However, SecureNet says the plates are "archived" to a searchable database which includes the image of the vehicle, the plate, time and location stamp.

"We're only looking for a triggered alarm to notify the officer if that vehicle is wanted, stolen, an amber alert, whatever the case may be so the officer can take action accordingly," said Mike O'Brian, an expert on mobile license plate recognition.

Officers now have the ability to type the information into a computer in their patrol cars. But the scanning system will just make it faster, and easier.

But faster and easier comes at a price. The system runs about $9,000 for three cameras.

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office says it's impressed with the technology. The goal would be to outfit several patrol units with the cameras, but they say it's out of reach financially for them right now.

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office says they hope as time goes by the product will be more affordable. They say it's a great tool that will enhance quality of life and increase public safety.