Bowie police go high tech

The information the system gathers is compared with a database of statewide motor vehicle violations and national criminal data, Deputy Chief John Nesky said. The scanner automatically notifies the officer when a vehicle has outstanding motor vehicle or criminal violations.

‘‘It makes my officers very efficient, extremely efficient,” Perez said.

The scanner can read 5,000 license plates in a 10-hour patrol shift.

The car containing the system is rotated through different officers and is on patrol around the clock.

The $23,000 scanner was purchased by the police department, with contributions from the Bowie Wal-Mart, Bowie Target, The Rappaport Company, which owns the Pointer Ridge Shopping Center, and Next Realty, which owns Collington Plaza. The business community donated about 40 percent of the cost of the system, Perez said.

‘‘The private-public partnership is amazing,” she said. ‘‘I think we’ve taken the bar way higher and we’re going to keep going.”

The scanner stores all plates scanned, and if police are given a partial plate number, they can still match it.

‘‘That gives us a leg up in an investigation,” Perez said.

Perez said the system helps officers not only with solving crimes, but also with preventing them.

‘‘If you’re going to come to Bowie and you’re going to do something illegal, the chances of you getting caught are very high,” she said.

Mark Windover, CEO of Remington Elsag Law Enforcement Systems, manufacturer of the system, said 70 percent of crimes are tied to a vehicle, making the recognition system quite important.

He said 36 of the scanners are in use in the Washington, D.C., area and 260 are in use nationwide.

The Prince George’s County Police Department also uses the scanners.

E-mail Megan King at mking@gazette.net.