Use of License Plate Scanners on the Rise in Maryland
In Baltimore, cameras - called Mobile Plate Hunters - are replacing the laborious eyeball-and-keystroke method of checking for stolen cars, letting officers rely on an automated scan. Already in widespread use in London and Italy, automatic number plate recognition is a technology on the verge of exploding in the Baltimore-Washington area, fueled in places by funds from the federal Department of Homeland Security. Privacy advocates warn that the plate hunters mark another step toward a society in which police can track a person's every move.
Cameras scan license plates for stolen cars, Baltimore Sun, April 3, 2006.
