Oakland has installed 100 license plate readers so far

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland police said on Thursday that its new license plate reader system is leading to the arrests of violent suspects.

The latest arrest involved a shooting on International Boulevard near the Allen Temple Baptist Church last week.

No one was hurt but surveillance video – along with license plate readers – helped identify a suspect, who police say confessed to the shooting.

The license plate reader system also assisted in the arrests for a road rage shooting on Sept. 8, and a robbery on Sept. 6, police said.

"Within six hours, OPD officers, with support of a helicopter, interrupted another robbery by the same suspect vehicle and suspects," Lt. Omar Daza-Quiroz said at a Thursday news conference. "The suspects were arrested near the Rockridge BART station." 

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Police Chief Flloyd Mitchell are praising the success of the license plate readers.

The mayor said she hopes to set up a real-time crime data center, but promises it will not infringe on privacy.
 

"We will not be sharing this data with Homeland Security or any other organization," Thao said. "We will be keeping it here just for the sake of any crimes. The only time we will share with another agency is if we are working together to solve a particular crime." 

More than 100 cameras have already been installed in Oakland. The goal is to almost triple that amount throughout the city by the end of the year.