FCPD Uses License Plate Readers to Find Four Missing People

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The license plate readers (LPRs) were first installed November 1. Since then, officers have used the LPRs to recover 30 stolen vehicles, six firearms, assist in 50 arrests and help locate four missing people.  

Images from Flock Safety

In the incidents involving the four missing people, officers used their training and knowledge of LPR systems to help locate the people who were entered as missing persons in the National Crime Information Center. In three of the four cases, officers received an automatic alert when they drove past an LPR. Officers responded to the area and began searching for the involved vehicle. The officers successfully located the missing persons and reunited them with their family.

In the afternoon of March 7, officers were initially searching for a critically missing adult who left the area on foot; however, use of the license plate reader camera gave officers vital information that led them to believe the missing person got on a nearby bus.

An elderly community member walked away from her residence in Reston and could not be located. Officers began searching the area. They found a witness who saw the missing person standing near a bus stop. Officers utilized the LPR system located nearby to search for buses that passed by the area at the time the missing was seen at the bus stop. Luckily, a supervisor assigned to the Reston Police District quickly recognized a bus number that led them to speaking with the bus driver who gave information to the whereabouts of the woman. She was found just moments later.

On March 16, officers from the Fair Oaks Police District and the Major Crimes Bureau teamed up to help locate an elderly woman who drove away from her home and was missing for many hours. Detectives determined the vehicle the missing person was driving and entered the license plate into the LPR system. While still investigating the whereabouts of the woman hours into the night, an alert was received from a stationary LPR device and officers responded to the area. A patrol officer stopped the vehicle and was able to safely reunite the missing woman with her family.

LPRs are another tool officers are now able to use to help solve crimes and find missing people, to help keep Fairfax County safe.

For more information about the LPR system click here.

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