Cortland Police to increase surveillance in the area

(Photo Source: Kevin L. Smith of The Cortland Voice).

The City of Cortland police announced at last week’s Police Commission meeting that the department recently received new license-plate readers (LPRs).

City police chief Paul Sandy noted the department received three new LPRs, which will increase surveillance throughout the area. Sandy also noted that once the new LPRs are installed, four different police vehicles will have LPRs intact.

City police’s oldest LPR, which was installed in 2015, went through a software update.

“If the software isn’t updated, it’s useless,” Sandy said.

An LPR, which city deputy chief David Guerrera mentioned consists of two forward-facing cameras and a rear-facing camera, scans license plates for updated registrations, the potential of a suspended driver’s license and the lookout for the possibility of stolen vehicles.

Sandy mentioned that LPRs are helpful at a crime scene, especially when stolen vehicles are involved.

“We can go back to that area and search for it,” he said, noting the questioning phase at a crime scene would increase based on information gathered from the LPRs.