Winnipeg police prepare to introduce licence-plate scanners

Police in Winnipeg hope to have new licence plate-reading technology in place by the end of October, as the latestweapon in theforce'sarsenal of toolsto combat auto theft.

The city announced it would buy the police the $50,000 licence-plate reader system in March. The readers allow police to scan up to 1,000 licence plates per hour to determine whether they have been stolen.

"It's state-of-the-art technology, and it's probably the single thing that fits the best for Winnipeg. It's the most well-suited," said Det.-Sgt. Kevin Kavitch, who iswith the force's stolen auto unit.

Auto theft is down by 25 per cent in Winnipeg so far in 2007, Kavitch said, and the scanners could help reduce that number further.

"Every one of those stolen vehicles on the road has the potential to cause a lot of harm," Kavitch said.

"We're hoping we can keep the trend driving in the same direction. If things go well, we'll have had the lowest rate for auto theft in the last seven years, if we keep on track for the final three months."

Licence-plate scanners are already used byabout 400 police agencies in the United States. Some agencies say they help officers recover more stolen cars andarrest more thieves, and also help find suspects in other crimes or people wanted on warrants.

However, civil libertarians and privacy advocates in the U.S. have raised concerns that the government could expand the use of the technology to track the movements of law-abiding citizens.

Force considers other high-tech gadgets

Winnipeg police are also considering other high-tech options to combat theft, Kavitch said, although he would not reveal many details.

"There are a couple of things we have our eye on that, it's not worth commenting yet but there are a couple of technologies out there, with things getting better all the time, that we may actually adapt here," he said.

"We'll see how the plate reader project goes first, and there are a couple of things that might even be used in conjunction with it, depending on how things go."

Earlier in the week, justice officials confirmed that the city's bait-car program, once touted as another high-tech way to combat auto theft, had been shelved.

Under that program, often-stolen models of cars equipped with tracking and recording devices were parked in high-theft areas, allowing police to nab thieves red-handed.

However, the batteries used in the technology could not handle Winnipeg winters, and police didn't have officers available to respond when the cars were stolen, justice officials said.

Winnipeg has long been infamous for having one of the highest rates of auto theft in North America.

A recentlarge-scale initiative to combat the problem requires owners of vehicles among about 200 models considered at the highest risk of theft to install electronic ignition immobilizers if the owners live in or commute to Winnipeg.

Without an approved immobilizer, vehicle owners will not be able to renew their registration and insurance.

Police, justice and insurance officials are also involved in an auto-theft suppression strategy that identifies the worst repeat car thieves and subjects them to intensive monitoring.