SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — Earlier this month, Sarasota police managed to track down a vehicle that was reported stolen as the responding officer was heading to the call. They did this by using technology in their Real-Time Operations Center at police headquarters.
Analysts in the center are able to monitor radio traffic live and during this call, they heard the description and tag number of the vehicle and were able to spot the vehicle actively traveling around city limits through cameras and license plate readers.
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“We have cameras across the city. We started looking for that specific tag number, a blue Hyundai, and she located it. It was actively driving around. She notified the officers and then they started going in the area to locate the vehicle,” said SPD Real-Time Operation Center Manager John Lake.
The 19-year-old driver of the vehicle, who was wanted for crimes out of Georgia, took off when an officer tried to conduct a traffic stop. Police said he ditched the car in a residential area, then took off on foot and hid in a shed in someone’s back yard…