MSRP: $9,000- $18,000
PRODUCT SHIP DATE: 9/6/2012

3M has combined its historical expertise in the license plate material business with ALPR technology to develop a superior approach to Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Engine design.
As ALPR read rate accuracy is highly dependent on the license plate, 3M can provide ALPR customers with a unique advantage.  As license plate reissues occur, our teams of 3M scientists and OCR engineers are at the forefront of license plate redesign decisions, helping to ensure new license plate designs are chosen with ALPR camera capabilities in mind.  Everything from license plate colors, character fonts, and even background imagery, can be scrutinized by 3M for proper reflectivity levels so as to maximize the new plate’s readability not only for 3M ALPR customers but for all ALPR users.  The involvement in the license plate design process allows 3M to quickly incorporate these new design components into OCR engines at the state, regional, or even national level to improve read rates and update OCR engines as soon as new plates are issued.

3M offers both Mobile and Fixed ALPR Solutions allowing Universities to design a system specifically for their campus. Mobile systems attach to vehicles providing flexibility in location coverage. Fixed systems attach to buildings or poles for 24/7 monitoring.

For University Police Departments without the power to arrest, or the credentials to access NCIC, 3M Back Office System Software (BOSS) “Vehicle Inventory”  allows users to zero in on suspect vehicles related to campus incidents.

3M BOSS “Whitelist” is a feature that allows customers to create lists of approved vehicles (based on license plate numbers) so as to automatically enforce parking permits.

3M ALPR can be used to assist in a variety of investigations.  Here are some examples from Louisiana State University.

• Property Damage: ALPR cameras captured the license plate of a semi truck driving over and destroying expensive landscaping saving the campus thousands in landscape reconstruction.
• Stolen Vehicles: Data Sharing between neighboring agencies allows LSU to capture stolen vehicles from other jurisdictions, several times a year.
• Burglary: A string of car break-ins and campus burglaries was solved by using witness accounts and accessing historical BOSS data to find the plate and identify the suspect linked to over 10 incidents.

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