ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – St. Charles County plans to install more than 40 new license plate readers in the upcoming weeks to help with high-profile investigations.
License plate readers will be added along all access points to St. Charles County, in addition to major interstates and secondary roads. The St. Charles County Council approved legislation for new LPRs earlier this year.
St. Charles County Police Chief Kurt Frisz expects the LPRs will be up and running later this month or in August. In a phone call, Frisz tells FOX 2 the license plate readers serve best as an investigative tool in felony and misdemeanor cases.
“If people are coming in, burglarizing, stealing cars, things like that, it’s an investigative tool for us,” said Frisz. “If a car is stolen, that plate is entered into the system. If someone is wanted for a felony or serious misdemeanor, their plate can be entered into the system.”
Frisz says this builds on a partnership with St. Louis County. The LPRs are designed to feed data to a regional intelligence center out of St. Louis County. This helps keep data consistent in times in which a wanted suspect might cross county lines.
One recent instance Frisz says it would’ve helped to have more LPRs was a home invasion out of O’Fallon. Police say four suspects broke into a home in the Winghaven subdivision in January after stealing a Hyundai out of St. Louis. The homeowner was hurt, though avoided life-threatening injuries.
“They had a description to go on, a license plate,” said Frisz. “[Police] started checking the license plate readers, and they were able to identify a possible suspect vehicle. Officers were able to locate that vehicle, and there was a short pursuit that eventually concluded, and the suspect was taken into custody. Investigators were able to get into [the LPR system] pretty quickly and determine that was the vehicle that didn’t belong in the area.”
Frisz wants to make it clear, LPRs will not be used for traffic enforcement.
“It’s nothing like that,” said Frisz. “It’s strictly for felony and misdemeanor level investigations. It’s certainly not like the old red light camera thing or for traffic violations. It’s not looking for people that are wanted for traffic warrants.”
FOX 2’s Chris Hayes reported on the impact of LPRs earlier this year and determined that LPRs are not only helping counties solve local crimes, but also in cracking cross-state cases.