In Sault Ste. Marie, police are showing off a patrol vehicle that has three new, powerful cameras that are attached to the roof.
It's advanced technology that can scan thousands of licence plates in an hour.
Officers inside the patrol car receive an alert that means someone is driving on the road while breaking the law and the computer screen instantly informs them why they need to pull the vehicle over.
The police were only able to catch some infractions, such as expired license plates, because of the new cameras which are mounted to the roof the police car.
"As the vehicle drives around, it will scan the plates, approximately two plates per camera per second." said Sergeant Ray Magnan, of the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service.
That’s roughly 22,000 plates an hour, by one vehicle. The plates are scanned against a database of 11-million Ontario plates.
"Various things like suspended drivers, validation stickers that are expired, stolen vehicles, amber alerts and various other flags." said Sergeant Magnan.
"It makes it a much more efficient; it's a time saving tool as well. Prior to this, we would have to enter plates as we see them, manually." said Constable Jacob Rouse.
Police say you never know what you will find when you pull the drivers over.
On one occasion, the driver of a vehicle didn't have any insurance papers with her. She received two tickets for $175 and could get one more fine for $5,000 if she fails to prove she actually has insurance.
If you're wondering what happens with all the information collected from these cameras, police say if you do not get a ticket, don't worry. Within twenty-four hours, all of the information is deleted, but if you are pulled over and do receive a ticket, police will keep that picture of your licence plate for the next five years.
