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© photo providedThe Indiana State Police is now using the License Plate Reader (LPR) system on its vehicles, which can read the license plates of nearby vehicles at a rate of up to 1,800 per minute. ISP hopes the LPR will reduce the number of people driving with suspended licenses or no license
More than 5 percent of Indiana motorists currently have a suspended driver's license.

And though local law enforcement can't catch every person driving while suspended or with a revoked license, the Indiana State Police is banking on a developing piece of technology to improve upon these efforts.

By buying and installing a new License Plate Reader (LPR) system on troopers' vehicles, ISP officials say those driving illegally on the state's roadways now stand a much better chance of being caught.

"It's just another tool in our tool belt for us to use to help catch violators of the law," said Sgt. John Bowling with the ISP Pendleton District. "It's another new piece of technology, and we're excited to have it."

According to an ISP news release, the LPR system -- which is mounted to the trunk of a state police cruiser -- can scan license plates at a rate of 1,800 per minute as the cruiser passes by vehicles while parked or when vehicles pass the state police vehicle on the highway.

By the end of the year, the LPRs are expected to be linked into the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles' database and will be capable of identifying those vehicles whose registered owner has a suspended or revoked license, those who have been deemed a habitual traffic violator or those vehicles associated with Silver and AMBER Alert victims.

Of about 4 million licensed drivers in Indiana, more than 222,000 have suspended licenses, according to the release. The system is also capable of reading license plates from every other state, as well as those from Canada.

"We're very excited to put this technology to use in Indiana," Major Brent Johnson, commander of the ISP Operations Support Division, said in the release. "People who drive with a suspended or revoked license pose an increased risk to the responsible licensed drivers in Indiana. This technology will undoubtedly save lives by helping our troopers identify unlicensed drivers and get them off the road."

According to the release, each LPR system costs about $22,000 and were bought by ISP through grant funding from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Indiana State Police's LPR system began as a pilot program in June. There are currently four LPR-equipped state police vehicles deployed across Indiana, assigned to troopers at the Lowell, Bremen, Putnamville and Sellersburg state police posts.

Bowling said plans call for the program to extend into the Pendleton District in the future.