SUNRIVER, OR -- Sunriver Police are considering installing automated license plate readers at the community’s two main entrances. Chief Steve Lopez says the system takes photos of the rear license plate as a vehicle drives by. It's designed to, "Provide alerts to law enforcement pertaining to wanted vehicles or vehicles that are of interest for law enforcement purposes- for missing persons, people at risk, stolen vehicles, vehicles associated [with] crimes." He says police agencies around Oregon already use the technology, including in our tri-county region. 

Images are stored for 30 days and officers investigating crimes could search the system for vehicle information under certain circumstances. Lopez says the department doesn’t want to violate anyone’s privacy, "They’re not facial recognition. They’re not gathering biometric data. They’re not taking a picture of the driver. It is the rear of the vehicle with the license plate itself." He tells KBND News, "It is not a speed camera; it’s not telling me if you’re speeding. It’s not telling me if you’re not signaling out of the roundabout. What this simply is is it’s taking a picture of a license plate and letting us know if it is associated [with] a crime through a secured national database."

With only two or three officers on patrol at any given time, Chief Lopez calls the system a "force multiplier." He says, "It is like putting one of my police officers at the fountain circle to see if any wanted vehicles come through. This allows my officers to be in the community more; but also allows for the community to hopefully feel safer in that if a wanted vehicle or a vehicle associated with some sort of felony or significant crime does come into the community, your police agency is notified pretty much spontaneously."

Sunriver PD hosts a community meeting Monday to discuss the proposal. It starts at 4 p.m. in SHARC's Dillon Room. Lopez hopes to have the system in place later this summer.