Catching Suspects
You know, there’s heaps of cool technology that will be used (if not already in use) in the automotive scene. Yes, there’s all the on-board safety wizardry that helps to keep you and others safe on the road. And, there’s Voice Control, satellite navigation and other infotainment systems on-board a lot of new cars. But what is pretty amazing is some of the new technology that Police will use for catching, say, a car thief.
Catching car criminals or even any criminal travelling in a car seems like a tough job and is all about speed, right? Well actually, there might be an easier way. Here is some of the high-tech ways for catching a suspect that Police can or will employ.
- Already seen in action, the CCTV camera is used for keeping a watch on an area and will often capture vital video evidence which can then be used in a court appearance.
- Funnily enough, the police are up-on-the-play with social media posts, and often the social media can be used for investigations. Police have their own software that scans all social media channels, and this scanning can be used to find out important times and locations of an offence. Facebook does reveal a lot!
- You may be well aware of the amazing stuff that drones can do. In fighting crime, police can use drones for surveillance, and any police officer can remotely control the drone from a distance. This is a very easy way of following a fleeing suspect, and the action can be seen as it happens by an officer in a car or back at headquarters.
- As a vehicle owner, you could subscribe to a service like OnStar which is a system capable of tracking your car if stolen. What’s more, it could be used to remotely disable your vehicle and shut down the engine. All you need to do is let the police know that your car has been stolen, and then OnStar does the rest.
- Police cars can be equipped with GPS Dart technology, which basically fires a small GPS tracker from the nose of the police vehicle so that it sticks onto the vehicle needing to be tracked. They can then plan how to catch and apprehend the suspect whilst tracking the suspect’s whereabouts.
- Already in action, police cars are equipped with automated license plate scanners. This technology is effective in catching those drivers that are driving a car that has failed its inspection or has a registration license that has lapsed. These scanning cameras can scan literally thousands of license plates per hour.
I have been pulled over by a police car that has used their scanning equipment on my car’s license plate. I wondered why it was following me so slowly for a time. I found out that my registration had expired on my trailer.
Level 2, 9 Help Street