Cornwall, ON – Beginning in August, motorists in Cornwall will notice a new addition outfitted on Cornwall Police Service (CPS) police vehicles.

As a result of funding provided by the Provincial Government, the CPS has been able to equip eleven police vehicles with Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) devices and dashcams. The total grant funding received for these devices is in the amount of $210,000.00. The Automated Licence Plate Recognition Technology Grant is a one-time grant to help police services strengthen roadside law enforcement efforts and improve public safety across the province.

An ALPR system consists of cameras that can read thousands of licence plates per minute, allowing officers to process more information on licence plates. The ALPR does not give officers access to any information not already made available to them – it simply alerts the officer that a vehicle on the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Canadian Police Information Centre “hot list” is in the surrounding area of a police cruiser. If the ALPR camera scans a license plate that is registered to the hot list, it produces a hit, alerting the officers on a monitor in the cruiser that the plate is in poor standing. 

License plates that are in poor standing can fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Plates that belong to a driver with a suspended license
• Plates associated with stolen vehicles or that are reported stolen or missing
• Plates that have been suspended
• Plates with expired validation tags
• Plates associated with persons with outstanding Canada-wide warrants or who are reported missing or associated with Amber Alerts

The dashcams associated to the unit will be used to provide a visual account of the officer’s evidence presented to the court, provide details that will effectively reduce the time required to investigate public complaints, enhance officer safety and accountability, while also identifying any training or equipment needs.

“The addition of the ALPR devices and dashcams will be added tools for officers in enhancing traffic safety,” said Staff Sergeant George Knezevic, Officer in Charge of Infrastructure. “The funding from the Provincial Government has helped us to equip our frontline police vehicles with the technology, which will ultimately help make our roadways safer.”

With the addition of the ALPR devices, the CPS is reminding motorists to ensure their vehicle licence plate has been renewed. Though the requirement to have licence plate stickers was eliminated by the Ontario Government in March 2022, vehicle owners are still required to renew their licence plate every one to two years at no cost. Click here to learn more and check your licence plate expiry date: https://www.ontario.ca/page/renew-your-licence-plate to help avoid an unnecessary fine by police.

To learn more about the ALPR devices, click here.

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