Police in Lebanon, Missouri are crediting their license plate reader technology with the quick rescue of an infant reported abducted on Tuesday. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Police in Missouri are crediting license plate readers with the quick recovery of a 6-week-old infant who had been reported abducted just over.
What we know:
Lebanon Police learned Tuesday morning that the child was believed to have been taken from a business on West Route 66. A family member who was visiting from out ot town had been holding the baby, but police learned both had disappeared.
Police gathered a description of the vehicle, then turned to the city’s automated license plate reader system to track the vehicle’s movement.
Officers tracked the vehicle toward Jefferson City and called in the Missouri State Highway Patrol, who began issuing an AMBER Alert. Troopers were able to find the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop at around 12:20 p.m.
The child was recovered safe and unharmed.
What they're saying:
Police said in a release that officers were able to turn a vague description into "an actionable lead" in a fraction of the time it would have taken without the camera technology.
"Technology like this doesn’t replace good police work — it speeds it up," Lebanon Police Chief Jerry Harrison said. "In a case like this, speed is everything."
The agency said they were able to rescue the infant about an hour and nine minutes after the initial call and also credited the teamwork with the state’s highway patrol.
"Our officers did their jobs well today, and so did the tools we’ve given them to do it," Harrison said.
Dig deeper:
License plate reading cameras have been the subject of growing concern and public backlash because of privacy concerns.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in August that he believed the cameras had gone "out of control," saying while he wants Florida law enforcement officers to have the tools they need, he did not want Florida to become a "surveillance state."
In a public letter, Harrison said in August that the technology had been in use in Lebanon for six years. The system is used in two ways: to target vehicle plates associated with vehicles reported stolen or involved in crimes including missing children; and to investigate crimes when there is a vehicle description or license plate number a witness is able to provide.
Lebanon Police use several brands of license plate readers, including Flock, Genetec and Axon, Harrison said.
In September, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed an executive order directing the state to set new safeguards for the technology. The Lebanon Police Department disabled its Genetic system.
What we don't know:
Police did not identify the family member or specify whether any charges were filed.
FOX 2 NOW reported that two people, the 18-year-old driver and a 17-year-old girl, were taken into custody without incident.
The Source: Information in this story came from Lebanon Police, FOX35 Orlando, KTVI and previous FOX News reporting. This story was reported from Orlando.