License plate technology helps find 2 stolen vehicles, suspects within hours

Police in Culver City are crediting license plate technology for assisting in the recovery of two stolen vehicles in a matter of hours over the weekend.

The cars involved in separate incidents were recovered Saturday afternoon, when officers received real-time alerts from their Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) system, the Culver City Police Department posted on X.

The first suspect was found around 6 a.m. when the stolen vehicle was located on the 10700 block of Jefferson Boulevard. “The driver was arrested without incident,” police said.

About two hours later, officers received another stolen vehicle notification and spotted the car near Sepulveda and Culver boulevards before conducting a traffic stop on the 4300 block of Sepulveda.

The driver was arrested for vehicle theft, and a passenger was also busted for drug possession, police said.

The Department described the incidents as “another example of how technology and proactive policing are working together to keep Culver City safe.”

ALPR systems automatically capture an image of a vehicle and the vehicle’s license plate and compare the plate number to one or more databases known as “hot lists” of vehicles and then alert law enforcement officers, according to the California.gov ALPR FAQs page.