BEAUMONT, Texas — The Beaumont Police Department is getting new license plate readers that will help them combat crime in Southeast Texas.
Beaumont City Council approved the purchase last week and now 50 police cars will receive the updated technology.
This equipment can scan for outstanding citations and even warrants.
Council member Randy Felshald say it was the right move to support this purchase.
"First of all we want to make sure that we equipped and resource law enforcement with all the tools they need, not only to do their job effectively but also to protect the citizens of Beaumont," he said.
Officers will now have more eyes on the road with these license plate scanners that will connect all cameras on their squad cars.
"All the cars will have an ALPR (automated license plate readers) feature so we can expand our system and capture a whole lot of license plates," said Beaumont Assistant Police Chief Jason Plunkett.
The way it will work is if a plate is entered into the system, these cameras will alert officers on the streets in real time.
"If we find a suspect that we are looking for, then that information will be entered in the system. If the officer passes that vehicle or that ALPR sees that vehicle it can alert the officer driving in real time," Plunkett said.
This cost has been budgeted through the city, for a total of about $2.5 million.
"It was approved through the budget process. So, we have been working on this for several months," Plunkett said.
The police department won't see these new machines until spring 2023.