February 14, 2008 New Haven catches tax delinquents with the Plate Hunter Play video

(NECN) - New Haven, Connecticut is going high-tech in its battle against tax delinquents and scofflaws. The new equipment has already borne results across the country and it has even helped catch some serious bad guys.

Officials are armed with the Plate Hunter. It uses cameras that recognize numbers to scan license plates. The plate numbers then go into a computer filled with information on tax delinquents and scofflaws. When the Plate Hunter spots a match, an alarm goes off and the information comes up on the screen.

In addition to parked cars, the Plate Hunter can scan cars coming head on, coming towards a person or a way from a person. Considering how much more ground can be covered faster the Plate Hunter is a much more efficient way to get after people who owe the city.

In the last collection period, which ended January 1st, roughly 17,000 people are still delinquent in the current tax year, amounting to $3 million dollars.

The systems also has an Amber Alert that can be inputed into the computer system manually. The Plate Hunter has already paid crime fighting dividends in other cities like Atlanta.

There are thousands of Plate Hunter units in operation around the world and in over 300 cities across the country. Lawrence, Massachusetts is one and Boston may not be far behind. NECN's Brian Burnell has details.