Racine police officers use license plate readers

RACINE --  Racine police have a new way to see if drivers are breaking the law. The Racine Police Department is now using license plate readers.

These license plate readers scan license plates on the road, and help officers determine if a car is unregistered or if there's another issue.

Racine police say they recently had a situation where they stopped a car for registration violation based on the license plate reader, and investigators say the man was driving drunk.

So far, four Racine police squad cars have the license plate readers. "It's just another tool we can use to help us do our jobs better, more efficiently," Racine Police Sgt. Rick Toeller said.

As part of the system, the squad cars have cameras. "Three cameras on the car - two of them on the passenger side, one on the driver's side of the vehicle. The two forward cameras collect data," Sgt. Toeller said.

Police say the license plate readers can show them information such as unregistered vehicles, suspended registration, and even wanted persons.

The Racine Police Department has had the equipment for a few months. There's no word yet on whether they plan to add more in the future.