Eyes on the streets

A ride-along with Waterbury village police and their license plate-reading cameras

Part-time Officer T.J. Bernier’s duties with the Waterbury Police Department involve taking some sophisticated photos while patrolling the streets.

He’s no photographer searching for the perfect sunset; Bernier’s high-tech snapshots come from two cameras mounted atop the department’s 2013 Ford Cruiser.

And the cameras’ lenses are focused on one thing: your license plate.

The ELSAG MPH-900 Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) system has been perusing plates around Waterbury since it was installed last year.

The $22,000 system, purchased with a federal Homeland Security grant, is designed to help police uncover motor vehicle violations, recover stolen vehicles, pursue AMBER alerts and collect delinquent fines or fees owed to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

“Don’t write the DMV a bad check,” Bernier laughed.

On Friday morning, I joined Bernier as he patrolled the streets in his cruiser. Inside the vehicle, he flipped open a laptop mounted in front of the dashboard. As the computer came to life, a program popped up with two blank squares, a box with the current date and time, along with a “hotlist.”

The data in the list is generated from ALPR readings across the state, which are transmitted and collected at an analysis center operated by Vermont State Police. It also includes information from federal law enforcement databases, providing current arrest warrant information.

The data also includes current DMV records for vehicles, like an expired registration or the driver’s suspended license.

Out on patrol

It takes the equipment a while to warm up in the chilly morning air on Friday, but when it’s up and running, we head down the street.

“Every time (the ALPR) reads a plate, it beeps,” Bernier explains. “And when it actually gets a hit” — meaning it detects a violation — “it will really make a lot of noise and it will probably give you a heart attack, like it did to me the first time I heard it,” he jokes.

We start out patrolling Main Street and other areas around the village. The cameras screen both oncoming traffic and parked cars. With each beep, a photo of a license plate and vehicle pop up on the screen.

“Now we wait,” Bernier says.

The ALPR beeps normally as we pass a young man driving a blue sedan, but Bernier notices something.

“He’s missing his front license plate,” Bernier says, flipping on the cruiser’s lights. “We are just going to have a chat about the condition of the vehicle,” he says before leaving the cruiser.

As I sit waiting in the cruiser, the computer screen suddenly flashes red and issues a series of loud beeps. “Scofflaw or other violation,” a computer voice says.

“We got one,” I excitedly tell Bernier when he returns to the cruiser.

“It looks like it was just an expired registration,” he says, looking over the driver’s history. We don’t pursue the hit and continue down the road.

Along the way, the cameras capture shots not only of license plates, but also of street signs.

“For whatever reason, the cameras love to read signs, too,” Bernier says, noting they’re especially fond of the sign at The Alchemist brewery.

Collecting data

The cameras capture 70 to 75 percent of the license plates they view, Bernier says. For each, the system records the plate information, the date and time, and the car’s GPS coordinates.

The information is stored in the Waterbury Police Department’s database for about 10 days, but stays in the statewide database for up to 18 months. The information also goes to a federal database kept by the Department of Homeland Security.

Bernier estimates that during a normal patrol shift, anywhere from 700 to 1,500 cars are scanned, though few scans lead to actionable hits.

According to a report released by state police in January, about 61 ALPRs were in use across the state from July 2012 through December 2013.

Think you and your car haven’t appeared on camera? Think again. Those 61 ALPRs collected nearly 8 million license plate readings over the 18-month period.

Locally, Bernier said, the system is mainly used to identify people driving with a suspended license. Even if all the bells and whistles sound, officers still have to confirm the hit with dispatch.

“You need to have more evidence than just a computer saying there’s an issue,” he said. “And when we pull people over, we generally like to have more (violations) than just a DLS.”

During our patrol, we turn into the parking lot by the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Visitor Center. “Watch this,” Bernier says. “(The cameras) love parking lots.” As we drive, the ALPR beeps wildly, scanning each parked vehicle.

Our patrol doesn’t yield any more “actionable hits,” but Bernier says he has no doubt the system is helpful in catching violations.

Once, he said, while he was working for the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, a dispatcher informed him of a stolen vehicle. When the car in question drove by on Interstate 89, Bernier’s ALPR sounded, and he pulled over the driver and took him into custody.

“The cameras do work in that they see violations we may have otherwise missed,” he said.

Automated license plate readings

July 1, 2012, through Dec. 31, 2013

Waterbury Police Department: 13,348

Stowe Police Department: 90,909

Vermont State Police: 1,335,027