Sacramento County Continues Successful License Plate Recognition (LPR) Program with Vigilant Solutions' LPR Data

LIVERMORE, CA--June 13, 2013:  Vigilant Solutions announces today that Sacramento County Sheriff's Department (SCSD) continues its successful license plate recognition (LPR) program with Vigilant Solutions' network of private LPR data and online investigative and analytic tools.  Vigilant's private LPR data is harvested from a number of sources and made available exclusively to law enforcement for investigative use.

Sergeant Kyle Hoertsch states, "We've enjoyed many successes using Vigilant's products and services dating back to late 2010. Just recently, we received access to additional LPR data through Vigilant's national LPR data network of over one billion detections from around the country.  I am amazed both at the amount of data, and the results we have generated.  In just the first thirty days of having this data, we located 519 vehicles of interest, including 495 stolen vehicles, 5 carjacking vehicles, and 19 other felony vehicles.  Directly related to these vehicles and the crimes, we have been able to take 45 people into custody."

Hoertsch states, "A couple of additional successes involving Vigilant include a takeover bank robbery and a home invasion involving an assault on an elderly woman."  Hoertsch continues, "A Wells Fargo Bank in Sacramento was the victim of a takeover bank robbery.  A witness was able to obtain the license plate number as the suspects fled.  A check of the license plate in the Vigilant system showed one capture of the vehicle on a major highway approximately six months prior.  The color photo was shown to the original witness who positively identified it as the vehicle used in the robbery. The color photo was so detailed you could see three distinct bumper stickers and a black bumper on a grey car.  Equipped with this detailed vehicle information, officers began canvassing the area and quickly found the vehicle in an apartment complex about a mile from the robbery scene.  The suspects were ultimately located and taken into custody."

"In another incident," Hoertsch adds, "we responded to a report of a home invasion.  We found a sixty-eight-year-old female tied up; the suspect had forced her to drink alcohol during the crime to a point where she was barely conscious.  The suspect fled the scene in the victim's vehicle, however she was unable at the time to provide us with a vehicle description due to her level of consciousness.  After locating her license plate number through other methods, we checked the Vigilant system which had three historical detections.  These captures provided color photos of the vehicle that featured a very distinct chrome license plate frame that allowed us to locate the vehicle just minutes later with the suspect inside.  After a foot pursuit, the suspect was taken into custody.  Certain states are attempting to limit the time that historical LPR data can be held when the vehicle is not connected to a crime, but in this case, I am sure that this sixty-eight-year-old woman is glad that her vehicle's picture was taken."

"Vigilant's products, and their data, really help us do our job more efficiently," concludes Hoertsch.