Michigan State Police has debuted a new tool, making it easier to track down drivers involved in freeway shootings and road rage incidents. License plate readers are being installed on freeways across metro Detroit, a project that’s been in the works for six months. The readers are first being installed along freeways where shootings and road rage incidents frequently occur. Lieutenant Mike Shaw says license plate information will be placed in a database for 30 days.
“As soon as we get where the suspect vehicle is, we can go in that database and look for vehicles that match the description. Then the detectives can start to do a work up on that particular vehicle, the registered owner and things like that, to determine if that might be the suspect in that shooting.”
Shaw says the readers will only be used to solve crimes such as shootings and not for traffic offenses, such as speeding. If the program goes well, readers will be installed along freeways across the state.
