Olmsted County using license plate readers - KXLT - Fox 47 Rochester MN News, Weather and Sports

ROCHESTER, Minn. (FOX 47) -- Olmsted County sheriff's deputies have a valuable new tool while on patrol.

"We've made several warrant arrests and also driving violations," said Capt. Terry Waletski. He said the sheriff's office recently implemented automatic license plate reader systems that can quickly scan hundreds of vehicles.

If there is something illegal associated with a plate, an alert will pop up on the squad car computer. This would include a revoked or suspended license or a car officials have been looking for that's stolen or related to amber alerts.

"Everything that it comes across it's automatically running through this database and checking so the officer doesn't have to sit there and run every plate," said Waletski.

The plates are captured through four cameras mounted on top of squad cars.

"It takes a picture of the plate," said Waletski. "It compares it in the system and runs it in a database in about one second. I've done a parking lot, 900 vehicles in 15 minutes to see if there's anything that comes back with a hit."

The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office has four vehicles equipped with the license plate reader systems.

Each system costs $15,000 and is funded through grants from the Department of Commerce and DWI seizures.