Released: February 3, 2009

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon and Baton Rouge Police Chief Jeff LeDuff announced the success of the License Plate Recognition Program on February 3 at the Department of Insurance Poydras Building in Baton Rouge. The Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (LATIFPA) of the Department of Insurance and the Baton Rouge Police Department are pleased to announce that the License Plate Recognition Program has proven to be a great success in only a few months.

LATIFPA awarded its first License Plate Reader (LPR) to the Baton Rouge Police Department who initiated its deployment in August 2008. Since that time, the License Plate Reader has performed 156,945 scans, which resulted in the recovery of nine stolen license plates, the recovery of 23 stolen vehicles with a total value of $183,085 and the arrest of 12 individuals in connection with these recoveries.

“Knowing of the success that Jefferson Parish has had with their multiple License Plate Readers, I am excited to see how successful the Baton Rouge Police Department has been in a short period of time with one Reader,” Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said. “I am proud that the Department of Insurance was involved in making this happen for Baton Rouge.”

The Baton Rouge Police Department was awarded the LPR through a competitive application process that selected and ranked 12 law enforcement agencies with city populations of 50,000 or more. The LPR unit is designed to capture pictures of thousands of license plates from moving or stationary vehicles, process and send the images to a centralized data base and within seconds determine if the vehicle matching the license plate has been reported stolen.

“The License Plate Reader is one of those tools that allow us to work smarter by taking advantage of advanced technology to stay a step ahead of criminals,” Baton Rouge Police Chief Jeff LeDuff said. “The LATIFPA is a strong partner with local law enforcement in fighting auto theft and we are grateful for their continued support and assistance.”

The LATIFPA License Plate Recognition Program was created to develop and implement a process for selecting and awarding license plate readers to qualifying law enforcement agencies. The License Plate Recognition Program is aimed at increasing the recovery of stolen vehicles and reducing auto theft and insurance fraud. This technology is not only effective in apprehending car thieves and recovering stolen vehicles, but it has also been proven effective by law enforcement authorities in tracking Amber Alerts, locating car-jackings and enforcing traffic violations. LATIFPA has plans to purchase additional license plate reader units for qualifying law enforcement agencies in the months to come.