Minnesota County Installs License Plate Cameras Along Roads

Duluth, MN (KROC-AM News)- Law enforcement in one of Minnesota's largest counties by land will have extra eyes on its side. 

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The County announced the addition of seven cameras that are capable of reading vehicle license plates. Officials credit the cameras with reducing crime and solving more cases in the thousands of communities they’re stationed in nationwide. 

A news release issued Friday by the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office says the plate reading cameras were installed across the county last month. Officials say the cameras can detect license plates belonging to vehicles that are reported stolen or were used in a crime. 

The cameras can also alert authorities to the presence of a vehicle associated with an amber alert, silver alert or missing person case. The news release says the cameras send real-time alerts to law enforcement 24/7 when they detect a vehicle belonging to a wanted suspect in state and national crime databases. 

National crime statistics indicate 80% of the 7 million property crimes per year go unsolved because investigators are unable to obtain a license plate number. A vehicle is used in 7 out of 10 crimes. 

The news release says the cameras are only used to read license plates and vehicle characteristics and can’t identify people or detect faces.

The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office says the cameras will only be used to solve violent crimes and property crimes and will not be used to resolve minor traffic or parking violations. 

“We are here to keep people and their property safe, and this is going to help us do that.  I’ve seen lost people with dementia found and habitual criminals arrested thanks to these systems”, said St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay.

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