A video posted on Facebook shows a police officer seemingly taking pictures of the sky. But what he was actually doing was using a system that can scan car licence plates in real-time.
The video shows a car stopped at a road divider as a police officer uses some sort of camera device to point at the sky. One can assume that he’s taking pictures of the sun and clouds but it was soon discovered that he was using a system called ELSAG.
The ELSAG system is an automatic number-plate recognition (ALPR) technology that allows authorities to scan licence plates in real-time to give operators instant intel, according to Leonardo Company.
From the video, the officer was able to capture numerous number plates with clarity from cars moving at a relatively high speed, thanks to the high-resolution cameras at 1280 x 1024.
According to Leonardo Company, the benefits of this system are:
- Audible And Visual Alerts – The system can be mounted on patrol cars, capturing licence plate numbers throughout an entire shift. If a suspect licence plate number is read, audible and visual alarms alert the officer within milliseconds of licence plate capture.
- Hot List Matches – Cameras, a processing unit and proprietary software allow operators to capture images of licence plates and instantaneously compare them with millions of hotlist records to identify vehicles of interest.
- Safety – The alert communicates the nature of the crime or infraction associated with the plate so operators understand the risks associated with the situation before exiting the patrol car. Also, because the system works behind the scenes, in-car computing allows operators to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the scene.
If you’ve witnessed a crime involving a vehicle, make sure to take note of the licence plate number! With this technology being used in Malaysia, the perpetrators can be caught in no time.
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