Freeport unveils license-plate reading system in crime-fighting effort

Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy introduced a state-of-the-art license plate reading system Wednesday, covering major entry and exit points of the village's 4.3-mile border.

"If you commit a crime in the Village of Freeport, you will be caught and convicted with the help of this equipment," Kennedy said at a news conference outside village police headquarters.

The $600,000 license-plate reading system is the cornerstone of the village's Operation Safe Streets program. While formally announced Wednesday, the system has been running for three weeks. Nearly 4 million vehicles have been scanned, resulting in the impound of 250 vehicles and a number of ongoing investigations, Kennedy said.

The system includes 27 plate readers and cameras, Kennedy said. The scanners can cross-reference up to 2,000 plate numbers a minute with state and federal law enforcement databases and motor vehicle records. Data are erased if no violations are found, officials said.

Alerts are sounded in a command center at Village Hall, which is attached to police headquarters. They are generated if the plate is stolen or attached to a stolen vehicle or if the vehicle is uninsured or registered to a person with a suspended or revoked license. It will also alert if an owner is subject to a warrant or is being pursued in a law enforcement investigation.

Village police officers and crime analysts staff the command center, monitor alerts and coordinate responses with officers in the field.

The system is funded by bonds and was approved by a unanimous vote of the board of trustees of the village of 50,000.

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano attended the event with acting County Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter, county Legis. Laura Curran (D-Baldwin), and representatives for other elected officials.

Mangano said he was proud to have assisted in implementing the program "and in securing a $125,000 grant [from Nassau's Community Revitalization Project] toward the overall purchase."

The county police department, which also has a plate reader system, is exchanging information with Freeport police, who will also share information with State Police and the Department of Motor Vehicles, Freeport Police Chief Miguel Bermudez said.

"Having this available will help keep the streets free from uninsured vehicles, stolen vehicles and wanted persons," Mangano said.