MetroParks police buy license plate reader

Youngstown

Equipment purchased with a federal grant allows Mill Creek MetroParks police to keep a closer eye out for potential crime.

The department received a grant from Homeland Security to purchase a license plate reader, said Police Chief Jim Willock. The equipment has been operational since May, he said.

Willock said the reader, which is placed in one of the sergeants’ cars, takes photographs of license plates, converts the numbers and letters to computer language and runs the information against a database.

“If no hits come up, the reader moves on,” he said. “Later if you needed to, you can go back into the database and retrieve the information.”

Willock said the reader isn’t intrusive because it doesn’t run personal information, only any issues that are associated with a vehicle’s license plate.

Read more in Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com