New license plate readers helping Pueblo sheriff's office combat car theft and other crime
'This is another great tool that our deputies now have at their fingertips to assist in identifying stolenvehicles and helping with criminal investigations,' Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero said in a news release. 'We have had this technology for less than a month and it is already making a positive impact on our efforts to locate stolen vehicles and stolen license plates.'
The ALPRS have been installed in each marked patrol vehicle as part of its dash camera unit. The system can read up to three lanes of view regardless of whether vehicles are traveling with or against the path of the patrol vehicle, according to the release from the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office.
The system reads the numbers and letters on the license plate with a detection distance of up to approximately 1 mile. The camera captures pictures of a vehicle and its license plate and then compares the plate to several different state and national crime databases.
If a stolen plate or vehicle is detected, deputies receive an alert, both audibly and visually, through the onboard camera system of a 'hit' through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). The process of reading the plate, clearing NCIC and notifying the deputy is less than a second. Deputies must visually confirm what state the license plate is from to determine if a hit is valid locally, according to the release.
Since going live with the new readers on Feb. 14, sheriff's deputies have received 177 hits, resulting in two recovered stolen vehicles and seven recovered stolen license plates.
License plates can be stolen individually for a number of reasons, according to the PCSO. Most commonly, they are stolen to avoid detection in a stolen vehicle, including during the commission of other crimes and to hide the identity of the perpetrator.
After reading a license plate, the information can be stored for up to 180 days. The data can be used as an investigative tool for law enforcement for uses such as "identifying vehicles that fail to yield, narcotics investigations into vehicle locations, identifying theft and burglary vehicles, and identifying the travel path of a vehicle of interest," according to the release.
Information obtained from the license plate readers can be shared with other law enforcement agenciesupon request and review.
'This technology is a useful tool for our deputies in tracking down stolen vehicles and vehicles ofinterest in other crimes, but I want to be clear that deputies must verify the information obtained fromthe reader before taking any enforcement action,' Lucero said.
License plate theft is a Class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 120 days in jail and/or a $750 fine.
While the penalty for motor vehicle theft varies by degree, which can change depending on aggravating factors such as damage to the vehicle and/or repeat offenses, the crime is almost always a felony, carrying a penalty of at least one to three years in prison upon conviction.
Pueblo County recorded 1,642 auto thefts in 2023 and 1,088 in 2024, according to the Colorado Stolen Vehicle Database.
In 2023, Pueblo police recorded 1,933 car thefts. In 2024, that number dropped to 1,357.
More on car thefts: Car thefts dropped nearly 30% in Pueblo last year. What's making the difference?
Questions, comments, or story tips? Contact Justin at jreutterma@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @jayreutter1. Support local news, subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Colorado sheriff's office fighting vehicle theft with new plate readers
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