Salina Police Chief Brad Nelson is a fan of new technology that the department has been using since June.

Chief Nelson released information Tuesday that the police have been utilizing Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR’s) on a couple of patrol units.

ALPR’s systems are simply cameras that are mounted to the exterior of the patrol units and capture license plate information. This plate information is gathered while the patrol vehicles are stationary or at highway speeds. This information is cross-referenced against the Kansas Criminal Justice Information System (KCJIS) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) databases. The most common crimes that these systems locate are stolen license plates, stolen vehicles and wanted subjects.

Since the inception of the program, Salina Police have recovered five stolen vehicles valued at over $42,000 and also recovered five stolen license plates. In addition, eight arrest have been made as a result of wanted subjects being associated with the license plate registration.

Chief Nelson said a man wanted for aggravated stalking was arrested after his car was found parked in a driveway. Officers also helped a Salina resident with dementia find his car after he could not remember where he had parked it.

The two ALPR systems were purchased entirely with forfeiture funds in the amount of $53,330.

In the future, Chief Nelson would also like to install the readers in stationary locations along the interstates to check license plates of vehicles traveling down the highway.