MPD Scanner Reads Plates on the Move

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - If you're driving without a license or avoiding a warrant, your time may running out. New cameras are giving Memphis Police a look into your past each time you pass them by.

The mobile license plate scanners are MPD's newest arrest weapon. More than 70 patrol cars have the new technology mounted on top, meaning if you pass one of these cars and you have something to hide your chances of being busted are pretty good.

Michael Clements didn't see it coming.

"I don't know how it showed a warrant when I ain't even in my car."

Clements was riding in his son's Oldsmobile when he was suddenly stopped by Memphis Police alongside I-40.

Although he's not the cars legal owner, he and his son share an address and last name. When MPD's license plate reader system scanned his son's car tag, it hit on the last name of Clements, alerting police that there was an warrant out for someone at the same address.

After a quick check of his ID, police got Clements on old charges of bad check writing.

If you spot one of the new scanners mounted on a MPD patrol car, don't try to outrun it. Not only can it scan 3 lanes of traffic, it can also read license plates at speeds over 100 miles per hour. Once it reads the database program, it goes through a millions of records in about half a second. Then with the sound of a tone, the system tells an officer what it found.

"It's doing well at getting people off the streets that shouldn't be there," said Officer Melinda Thurmond.

"Before this system was implemented, cars would drive by officers, officers would drive by cars, and they would be unaware of what was driving by," said the scanner's software author John Harvey. "Now, that's not the case."

The new license plate readers are designed so that unique sounds signal something different about the driver.

For example, Michael Ward was pulled over on Covington Pike after his tag was flagged. He admitted on camera that he was driving despite having his license revoked several years ago.

"I got into an accident and was late paying the fine."

"120,000 plus people are driving on a revoked, suspended, or cancelled license in Shelby County, so we have a lot of those," Harvey stated.

That's not all this new technology does. You don't even have to be in a car to be detected by police. The license plate reader system, nicknamed "The Prowler," can also come equipped with a heat sensor.

Called FLIR, or Forward Looking Infrared, officers can pinpoint if someone extra is hiding in a car or even evading arrest down a dark street.

"It's already been used to locate burglars," said Harvey. "It's working smarter, taking the fight to the criminal element."

Each license plate reader cost MPD between $20,000 and $25,000. The department is using grant money to foot the bill, and plans to add 60 more to its fleet by July.

FOX13 has learned that other Mid-South law enforcement agencies, like the Shelby County Sheriff's Department, are also buying the equipment and will be using MPD's software.

Harvey will present MPD's version of the license plate reader at a training expo in Atlanta this May, and it's being entered in an Excellence in Law Enforcement competition in March.

Watch MPD's Blue Crush video on the new scanner technology: