License Plate Scanners Out of Shorewood Police's Price Range, at Least for Now

Shorewood Police Chief David Banaszynski says his department has looked at a new piece of technology other local police forces are utilizing to expand their reach on the roads, but cost steered it away.

The technology: “automated license plate recognition systems," or license plate readers for short. It's used by Milwaukee police, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department, Franklin Police Department and .

Using high-tech cameras mounted on their squad car roofs, officers will receive instant alerts to every car they pass that has been entered in the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles database.

"It scans every car that an officer passes for open warrants, suspended registration; it's a great tool," Banaszynski said.

The system senses the reflectivity of the license plate, but it captures the whole car. Then it crops down to the license plate and reads it. If there is an issue, an alert sounds right away.

Without that system, the entire process is manual, and slow. Officers must:

• Decide which cars to check
• Hope to get a good luck at the license plate
• Manually enter the number into their computer, sometimes while driving
• Wait for a visual readout

It’s all akin to texting while driving.

Banaszynski the technology would work well in Shorewood but there isn't enough room in the department's budget to spring for the technology. However, there is talk of departments purchasing the equipment once the price tag drops, and creation of a statewide system.

"We've looked at how it could be used by our night parking officers, but there's not enough in the budget to purchase $25,000 to $30,000 equipment like these readers," he said.

Banaszynski said Shorewood has been looking for grants for the technology, but to no avail.