The Brief
- License plate readers helped authorities catch the Brown University shooting suspect
- In Central Texas, several cities recently got rid of their license plate reader programs
- The vice president of the Austin Police Association spoke out about the removal
AUSTIN, Texas – License plate readers played a key role in catching the Brown University shooting suspect.
Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, 48, is identified as the Brown University shooting suspect. Authorities in Rhode Island got a tip about a Reddit post from a homeless man with a description of the suspect’s car. The homeless man slept in the campus building’s basement and saw the suspect the day of the shooting.
Police looked at surveillance footage and used license plate readers to identify the car, which led them to a car rental company in Massachusetts, where they got surveillance footage and the suspect’s name through the rental agreement.
License plate readers in Central Texas
Dig deeper:
The City of Austin got rid of its license plate reader program this year. The last of 40 Flock cameras recently came down.…