The Lancaster County Board of Commissioners approved a new license plate reader for the sheriff’s department during Tuesday morning’s meeting. Sheriff Terry Wagner appeared before commissioners and assured them that the data captured by the readers is only being retained for lawful purposes.
“It doesn’t capture every license plate,” Wagner says. “If we have a stolen vehicle, for instance, we can enter that in the system. If that license plate would go through our license plate reader, then we would get a hit that a stolen vehicle has passed through a license plate reader wherever it is at.”
Wagner stressed that the readers don’t capture registration or any other information. “It’s just that this plate went through this reader and this time and that’s the plate we’re looking for. Wagner says deputies can also receive real-time alerts for vehicles and suspects flagged by law enforcement agencies in other states.
The nearly $20,000 cost for the reader and software licenses is nearly $20,000 and is paid for through forfeited property.