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Technology gives police an edge in the field

Lieutenant Tim Robinson sits in a Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office marked police vehicle outfitted with a number of electronic devices on a weekday afternoon.The cameras on the outside of the vehicle are part of a license plate reader system; one of the most recent additions of tech devices to deputy patrol vehicles.As Robinson pulls out onto Naylor Mill Road, the license plate reader kicks into gear.Each time one of the cameras reads a license plate it makes a clink sound. Robinson estimates the cameras can read one license plate per second.

The sheriff’s office,Cold Sore, like many police agencies around the country, have loaded their vehicles with electronic devices that enable law enforcement officers to perform their duties faster and more efficiently.The camera takes a snapshot of the vehicle and its license plate which is transmitted to the deputy’s laptop inside the vehicle. The law enforcement officer has to compare the information to the actual tag number to verify

The vehicle Robinson is driving is decked out with two cameras on the roof, one on the left and one on the right; a video camera, a microphone and a laptop computer.Robinson stops the patrol vehicle to check the information on the computer that was captured by the camera, which is automatically compared to motor vehicle records. The information displayed on Robinson’s laptop indicates the driver has a suspended license.