Meter readers go high-tech
By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published May 13, 2008 at 6:32 p.m.
Updated May 13, 2008 at 6:33 p.m.
Denver's parking meter agents won't just be writing tickets when the time is up, but they'll be notifying cops if a car is hot.
The city's public works department is arming its 63 right-of-way enforcement officers with 72 mobile devices and four vehicles equipped with cameras that can photograph license plates and determine whether cars are stolen or linked to a crime. The cameras, mobile devices and computers will be connected to the police department's database of stolen vehicles.
Lindsey Strudwick, director of right of way enforcement and permit operations, said during an exhibition of the new equipment that the goal is to help the police recover stolen cars and remove them from the streets more promptly.
The biggest component of the anti-theft arsenal will be the small fleet of vans and sport utility vehicles equipped with four cameras perched on their tops and rear. Michael Espinoza, a city vehicle boot investigator, said the cameras will be able to snap photos of about 20,000 license plates on either side of a street on any given day. If they score a hit, a computer will deliver an alert that a car is stolen.
Phillip Ortega, an enforcement supervisor, said agents previously had to type in to a computer the license plate numbers, and they would only be able to go through 1,500 plates a day. Since April, agents did score hits on 18 vehicles that were stolen or owned by repeat parking violators or people wanted by the police.
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May 13, 2008
10:05 p.m.
Suggest removal
Shaggy writes:
If there are 63 right-of-way enforcement officers, why do they need 72 mobile devices?