BEACHWOOD, Ohio — License plate readers (LPRs) have become increasingly popular among law enforcement departments nationwide to apprehend suspects. The City of Beachwood, in partnership with Beachwood Place, is one of many cities to adopt this new, highly effective technology.
Beachwood now has 31 LPRs stationed throughout the city and two patrol vehicles with mobile units, with additional units expected this fall, the City of Beachwood shared in a press release on Friday.
LPRs are electronic devices with cameras to catch and record the license plates of the vehicles that pass them. The location, date, and time of the vehicle passing the device is also recorded.
This information is run through a "hot list" for possible matches to then alert authorities.
“This technology will better align our law enforcement work with what’s happening nationwide, and it will offer greater protection to our residents and visitors,” said City of Beachwood Mayor Justin Berns.
The press release goes on to say that the information recorded from the LPRs can potentially assist in stopping crimes in progress, locating missing and/or endangered persons, as well as providing investigative leads for crimes that have already occurred.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
