A new patrol vehicle has hit the streets of Chicago and police are hoping it will help reduce the number of carjackings in the city.
The first of 200 new cars equipped with License Plate Reader technology was unveiled Tuesday ahead of a citywide rollout aiming to bring six such vehicles to each police district.
“We are ensuring our officers have the tools, training and technology to be proactive in the fight against crime,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. “Equipping squad cars with state-of-the-art technology and deploying them to every district in Chicago will help the Chicago Police Department continue to drive down crime in communities across the city.”
The technology in the vehicles will allow officers to match license plates against the list of stolen vehicles sent daily to License Plate Reader by the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
“The recovery of these stolen vehicles and the arrest of the individuals driving them, will serve as a deterrent to other individuals considering committing similar crimes,” Supt. Eddie Johnson said in a statement.
Right now, the city has about 40 cars equipped with the License Plate Reader cameras.
Officials said the city ended 2018 with an 18percent reduction in carjacking incidents.
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“I absolutely love this car,” said Officer Mark Wozniak. “Most of us police officers will think of this as our third partner.”
