FRANKLIN, Va. – Technology that reads license plates is being used in a variety of ways to improve safety across Hampton Roads.
In fact, on December 1, officers with the Franklin Police Department say they were able to reunite a child with their legal custodian after an abduction in which license plate reader technology was used. Police say they used technology through Flock Safety to track the suspect vehicle. The child was with a biological parent, but police say that parent did not have custody rights and was violating a court order. They tracked down the driver in Suffolk.
“If you’re on the Flock system, you can share your cameras with other agencies and they can share it with you as well,” said Franklin Police Chief Steve Patterson. "Our cameras are also linked to other agencies across the state: the Peninsula, Virginia Beach, Norfolk. We go out as far as Emporia.
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Patterson said they’ve been able to install ten cameras throughout the city which cover every entry and exit of Franklin.
Sgt. Keith Burggraff with the Franklin Police Department said the plate readers are very useful, and in the recent case, they were able to complete the case within a few hours.
“It’s few and far between you get to see resolution with a happy ending, and a parent being reunited with a child, it reminds you of why exactly you signed up to do the job,” stated Bruggraff.
