University of Central Florida Implements License Plate Scanning Tech

University of Central Florida Implements License Plate Scanning Tech

Cameras have been installed at the entrances and exits of University of Central Florida to scan the license plates of cars on campus and check them against law enforcement databases, officials announced Thursday.

  • By Jessica Davis
  • June 21, 2019

Cameras have been installed at the entrances and exits of University of Central Florida to scan the license plates of cars on campus and check them against law enforcement databases, officials announced Thursday.

The announcement was part of an update on parking procedures for the UCF campus. One goal of the university’s new parking policy appears to be to eliminate the need for physical parking decals, hangtags or permits, and to instead use license plates as parking permits for all parking pass options.

According to Andy Rampersad, assistant director of UCF Parking and Transportation Services, the new policy will help identify vehicles without parking credentials during the process of issuing citations. It will also help support law enforcement work, as the police will be notified of vehicles associated with a crime.

In the news release, the university said that cameras are able to “quickly and efficiently capture vehicle tag numbers,” which the UCF Police Department can run “against national and state systems that flag stolen or wanted vehicles; search for license or tag expirations or suspensions; or alert for individuals with criminal investigative interest.”

In the release, license plate readers are described as a “force multiplier for police.”

“Simply put, UCFPD is not interested in monitoring anyone’s whereabouts with the exception of those who are likely to be connected to criminal activity," UCF Police Chief Carl Metzger said. “LPRs are a technology used at campuses and large facilities across the country, and we believe they are an important addition to UCF’s safety and security measures."

According to the news release, the license plate data will be “stored in secured cloud accessible only to UCFPD for a limited period of time. Collected data is owned by UCF and will never be shared or sold.” However, it also mentioned that “UCFPD will exercise discretion when sharing information with other law enforcement agencies to solve crimes, locate missing persons, and for other law enforcement purposes.”

UCF spokeswoman Courtney Gilmarten told the Orlando Sentinel that the cameras were installed this year and began being used this month. Data will be stored for one year.

About the Author

Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.

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