COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi city is considering license plate scanning cameras in an effort to crack down on uninsured drivers.
Columbus city leaders recently heard from representatives of Atlanta-based Securix Systems about the proposal, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Attorney Robert Wilkinson, who represents Securix, said the system captures tag numbers and compares them to a national insurance database.
Mississippi leads the nation in the number of uninsured motorists — around 30 percent, Wilkinson said. He said Ocean Springs is among Mississippi cities now using the program.
Automated License Plate Readers operated by various entities are used every day to scan plates as drivers pass by a camera, Wilkinson said.
“If you drive on I-10, when you cross into Alabama a photo is taken of your tag," he said. "It’s done by Homeland Security, it’s done by (the Drug Enforcement Administration.)”
In Ocean Springs, Securix has put up six cameras so far, with seven or eight more planned. As a car passes one of them, it takes a picture of the tag and compares it to a database of every driver in Mississippi who has insurance, the newspaper reported.
The cameras can also be set up to recognize state emergency alerts, including Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts and law enforcement Be On the Look Outs, Wilkinson said.
“If there was a child kidnapped and they put an Amber Alert out, if that vehicle passes that camera your dispatcher will get an alert within five seconds,” he said.
Pearl and Senatobia plan to have cameras running soon in their cities, said Josh Gregory, a consultant with Frontier Strategies, which is helping to market Securix’s services.
Council members say they plan to continue considering the idea and look over the proposed contract.
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