All provincial police cruisers patrolling Southwestern Ontario roads are now outfitted with license plate scanners and cameras.
More than 300 OPP patrol vehicles in the West Region, an area that encompasses Southwestern Ontario, are equipped with automated license plate recognition devices and in-vehicle cameras as part of a $16.9-million province-wide project to modernize frontline policing, the OPP said Monday.
The retrofit, which began in February, has already shown that a “high number” of drivers are operating vehicles that don’t have valid, registered license plates, the OPP said.
Premier Doug Ford waived the $120 annual fee to renew license plate stickers last year, but drivers must still renew their stickers annually or bi-annually.
The license plate readers will enhance officers’ ability to detect vehicles linked to crime or traffic offences, while the in-vehicle cameras – one in the backseat, the other on the dash – accountability will improve transparency and for policing, OPP said.
“These technologies will be used to gather enhanced evidence to be used in the prosecution of offenses and will also highlight the professionalism our members display every day as they work to ensure safe communities,” the OPP said in a statement.
The new technologies were provided by Axon, the Arizona-based company that has supplied the OPP with body-worn cameras.