Pueblo County Sheriff says new license plate recognition system is already finding stolen vehicles

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO)- The Pueblo County Sheriff's Office has a new license plate recognition system that the sheriff says will be a big help in finding stolen vehicles. 

Sheriff David Lucero says they've had this technology for less than a month and already it's making a big difference.

The department now has 73 Mobile Automated License Plate recognition systems that have been installed in each marked patrol vehicle as part of the vehicle’s dash camera unit. It can read up to three lanes of view in both directions of traffic. The system reads the numbers and letters on the license plate with a detection distance of up to approximately a mile. Deputies will then get an alert from the National Crime Information Center if it flags any plates as potentially stolen. 

The department also says it understands concerns about privacy but emphasizes that personal information is protected. 

"The deputies only receive the alert. We do not get any personal information on those vehicles. No personal information on the driver of the vehicle. We're only told that it's, a vehicle of interest. From that point, we confirm with our communication center that the vehicle is stolen prior to any contact with the vehicle," said Lt. Dante Guadagnoli.

This new tool went live on Valentine's Day and since then, deputies have received 293 alerts about potential stolen cars. So far, 5 stolen vehicles and 12 stolen license plates have been recovered, the sheriff's office said.