New policing technology multiplies arms, eyes of law

North Charleston police are using new technology that promises to bring them closer to one of law enforcement's Holy Grails: an all-seeing eye.

A patrol car outfitted with three special cameras can photograph hundreds of licenses plates per hour and look them up in a national database. An officer cruising a parking lot or a freeway can, within a few short minutes, check whether scores of cars are stolen. The system also alerts the officer if the vehicle belongs to a wanted criminal, a registered sex offender or somebody with a restraining order.

It's so useful that it's addictive, according to one patrolman. Pfc. Victor Buskirk said he's tempted to take detours through parking lots —even during time off— to see what he finds.

"Criminals like hotels, they can pay in cash, they have that anonymity," Buskirk said while demonstrating the plate-scanner near Montague Avenue. "But if they have a vehicle, it'll tell on them."

Read more this weekend in The Post and Courier.