Police squad cars getting an upgrade

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) -  The Fort Wayne Police Department is getting new technology in its squad cars, and it's technology that could help officers solve crimes and catch suspects in the future.

In May, automatic license plate readers will be installed in two Fort Wayne Police squad cars. The two cars will patrol Fort Wayne 24 hours a day. The police will then be able to scan up to 12 to 13,000 plates on any given shift and create a database with the information gathered.

One of the most likely uses will be to locate stolen cars whether they are moving or parked. It will also help in everyday policing such as finding people with warrants, people with suspended records, or even people with multiple outstanding tickets, but it will also aid police in more serious crimes such as amber alerts and murders.  

"This will create an archive for us, so if we have a homicide a week from now, and we’re able to obtain a plate number, we can go back into our archive and see if we’ve spotted that car," said Chief Rusty York of the Fort Wayne Police Department.

The records will not be public knowledge, and Chief York said the only people being tracked will be those involved in crimes.

"People’s images and information are collected hundreds of times a week, if not thousands in some cases, so I don’t see this as infringing on anybody’s privacy at all," York said.

The department is able to fund the upgrades because of a $56,000 grant from the government.