License plate camera helps Missouri police find baby in 69 minutes
A six-week-old baby taken from a Missouri roadside business was found safe 69 minutes after the first call, thanks to a city license plate reader.
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giftdetect· the right gift in minutesA six-week-old baby was found safe in Missouri just one hour and nine minutes after police got the first call, and a license plate camera system did much of the early work.
Police in the city of Lebanon were told a child had been taken from a business along a highway. A relative visiting from out of town had been holding the baby when both disappeared. Officers collected a description of the vehicle, then fed it into the city's automated license plate reader system to follow its route.
The trail led toward Jefferson City. Lebanon police coordinated with state highway patrol officers, who issued an AMBER Alert, the emergency notice used for child abductions. Patrol officers then located the vehicle and stopped it. The baby was unharmed and in good health, and two people were arrested.
How do license plate readers help police?
These cameras read plates automatically, so officers can follow a vehicle without waiting for a human to spot it. In a statement, police said the system turned a vague vehicle description into precise information they could act on far faster than would otherwise have been possible.
Lebanon police chief Jerry Harrison put it plainly: tools like this don't replace good police work, they speed it up, and in cases like this speed is decisive. Police also credited teamwork with the state highway patrol.
Why are the cameras controversial?
The cameras have drawn growing public objections over privacy. In August, Florida governor Ron DeSantis said their use had gotten out of hand. He said he supports giving Florida law enforcement the tools it needs, but doesn't want the state to become a "surveillance state".
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