LUBBOCK, Texas — The Lubbock Police Department has introduced six new license plate scanners to enforce parking with new features, following their purchase in May.
According to Lubbock police captain, Ray Mendoza, said before the purchase, only three parking control officers of six had an older model of license plate scanners.
Mendoza said it had been time for an upgrade.
“It was a chance for us to upgrade from the old system, it was becoming outdated and they weren’t going to support it [scanners] anymore,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said the new scanners have features the previous models did not, such as “virtual chalking.”
“It takes a picture and puts GPS location on the vehicle, and then after the timed parking is over they’ll come and circle around and take another picture,” Mendoza said. “If it shows that they vehicles parked in the same location, for more than that hour for example, it will notify a parking control officer.”
Mendoza also said the scanners can tell if a person has moved even a few inches.
“People get in the habit of parking in an hour parking lot or a thirty minute [lot], and then they’ll go out and go around the block,” Mendoza said. “Those officers have the ability to verify the vehicle has in fact moved or not moved.”
Mendoza said the parking control officers drive throughout Lubbock to enforce parking, however the officers concentrate more in areas such as downtown and Tech Terrace.
Mendoza said the new technology also helps spot stolen vehicles.
“They put it into the national database and that database is connected to our system and will alert the parking control officers that ‘hey that license plate is coming back as a stolen vehicle.'”
