High-tech scanner helps find stolen cars (Thank goodness!)

The Fresno Bee ^ | 5-4-07 | Lewis Griswold

[Enterprise]

The MPH900 Mobile License Plate Reader works by scanning license plates from a distance, reading as many as 500 an hour.

[Enterprise]

This is good news. With the ruling by the USSC regarding pursuits I hope law enforcement gives these jackasses one chance to pull over and then rams them off the road.

[Responsibility2nd]

A new law enforcement tool that uses RoboCop technology to hunt for stolen cars will soon be coming down the pike in Tulare County.

Riiiight. Sure. Of course. Stolen cars.

Not that the State would track cars where the license plates would reflect drivers with unpaid tickets or warrants or overdue library books, or things like that.

They would never do that, right?

[knarf]

Really?

Stats will never be recorded, or if they are, will never reflect truly ... but

red lights, stop signs and 'speeders' will be the gross majority of all those hits on our plates.

The technology is already overridden with very simple photo-defracting plastic covers.

Sorry ... can't get excited about this one.

[glorgau]

Coming soon - overdue library books will get your car impounded.

[Responsibility2nd]

Ping.

I see “Big Gubmint” all over this story.

[Wiz]

Take it to Iraq. It will hunt down and track terrorists.

[Enterprise]

Perhaps. On the other hand, I would suggest we wait until they actually in use to be sure about their effectiveness. And I’m not assuming they possess the same technology in the scanners that are in the red light cameras.

[terryg999]

Good news? What are yo nuts? It’d be good news if you are into police states.

[Enterprise]

It’s good news if you have a car that you rely on for work and transportation. It’s good news if you are on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in payment obligations. What’s your problem with it? Are you a car thief?

[Enterprise]

Indeed. Terrorists are required by the U.N. to wear license plates.

[Enterprise]

Actually, you are probably seeing “Big Insurance” all over this story.

[Mark was here]

The technology is already overridden with very simple photo-defracting plastic covers.

The MythBusters on the Discovery channel, tried every trick in the book to prevent a camera from reading the license plate. Nothing worked.

[visualops]

It’s good news if you are on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in payment obligations.

Nonsense. Any car with a lien on it requires Comprehensive & Collision so theft would certainly not leave you owing on a stolen car. The only folks SOL with a stolen car are those carrying liability only.

[stompk]

and the number plates not “wanted” will be discarded, right?

gee, they would never want to log who goes where and when, I suppose.

I know, I know, If I have nothing to hide why should I worry? just paranoid I suppose.

[Responsibility2nd]

Actually, I'm not. This "technology" will be used to scan vehicles and track them for police purposes.

If you have an unpaid parking ticket, guess what? Your plate # will be in the data base and when this scanner matches your plate with their records... you get pulled over.

I see all sorts of ways this could be misused. Oh wait. from the article....

Mark Windover, president of Remington-Elsag Law Enforcement Systems, which sells the device in the United States, rejected concerns by privacy advocates that police will check all plates willy nilly, even if there's no reason to think a car has been stolen.

Oh, well, I must be wrong. If the president of the Remington-Elsag Law Enforcement Systems says it won't be used willy nilly, then I have nothing to worry about.

Now where did I put my kool-aid?

[Enterprise]

So it’s not good news? A scanner that could possibly locate your car if it’s stolen? Your car, that you need for work, school, shopping, medical appointments? Are you nuts? What if, and this HAS happened, the insurance company does not think that the car was stolen? You still have to make the payments until the insurance company comes across. Another thing that has happened is that the company might provide some reimbursement but not the total cost of what you owe.

[Calpernia]

These are called, e-Plates.

The license plates are RFID embedded.

DON'T get fooled. The Auto Insurance companies need the cars tagged because they are interested in insurance vehicles by the mile.

[JayNorth]

They're already using or testing something like this.

One of my employees moved here (Nevada) from California. She's about 22 or so. In high school she changed the spelling of her given name (like a lot of teenage girls do). Nevada wouldn't issue a driver's license because the names didn't match up (birth certificate/California DL/name on application), and they wouldn't renew her plates without a valid DL. She was getting stopped once a week while she tried to straighten it all out.

I questioned how, if you're driving normally on the freeway, a cop would just randomly run your plates and pull you over. One of my other employees said they have an automatic camera of some sort that scans and alerts them to unpaid citations, etc. etc.

I believe this is true, because she was getting pulled over way to frequently to be coincidence or a fluke.

...and she does have it all resolved now.

[Oberon]

"If you have done nothing wrong, comrade, you have nothing to fear."
- Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria, Soviet NKVD Chief 1938-1953

[Enterprise]

Thanks - and a good point!!!