Page 52 - Security Today, May/June 2025

A U T O M A T I C L I C E N S E P L A T E R E C O G N I T I O N
HOW TO HARNESS ALPR FOR GREATER SECURITY,
EFFICIENCY AND COLLABORATION
B R U C E C A N A L I S A C C O U N T E X E C U T I V E L E A D — E D U C AT I O N W I T H G E N E T E C .
W
ithin higher education campus environments, the de-
mand for greater security, efficiency, and resources is
ever-present. Many higher education teams are adopt-
ing advanced technologies to secure their campus,
streamline operations, and continue to best serve
their students and faculty. Automatic license plate
recognition (ALPR) technology stands out for its ability to meet a
wide range of campus objectives.
While traditionally ALPR solutions collect only information on
the license plate, select ALPR solutions go beyond the license plate
and collect data about vehicle characteristics. This may include de-
tails such as type, color, location, and speed. This complete data is
a valuable campus resource for your campus.
Exploring the applications of ALPR reveals how you can
bridge the gap between you and your parking and transporta-
tion counterparts. This connection can make your campus safer
and more efficient.
A L P R F O R C A M P U S S E C U R I T Y
Chances are you are already using video cameras to boost secu-
rity in your campus parking lots and along busy roads. However,
without ALPR, you lack the necessary context that could make a
difference when responding to security threats.
Imagine someone driving off in a vehicle involved in an on-
campus incident. The information gathered from the ALPR camera
can collect the vehicle’s license plate, color, and type. This infor-
mation is then stored in the system’s database. Security person-
nel now receive immediate alerts whenever ALPR cameras located
throughout campus detect this vehicle of interest.
Witnesses can also give helpful leads but may struggle to re-
member specific details, especially license plate numbers. An ALPR
system resolves this issue by allowing you to search the database based
on characteristics such as vehicle type, color, and even partial plate
numbers. This capability will enable you to efficiently narrow down ve-
hicles of interest and enhance the effectiveness of your investigations.
Lastly, today’s best ALPR systems can analyze the speed of
a passing vehicle. This feature is invalu-
able from a campus safety perspective.
Security personnel can monitor vehicle
speeds in real time, allowing them to re-
spond quickly to reckless driving behavior.
If the system detects a vehicle speeding in
a designated area, it can trigger an alert,
allowing security to intervene promptly.
A L P R F O R P A R K I N G M A N A G E M E N T
As you advocate for ALPR technology, it’s essential to communicate
the dual benefits of enhanced security and improved operations.
Start by working with your campus’s parking department to de-
termine any inefficiencies they may be experiencing.
For example, many parking systems rely on physical tags
or decals that must be prominently displayed on vehicles. These
tags or decals distinguish authorized vehicles from unauthorized
vehicles within designated parking areas.
However, such traditional parking management methods are
inefficient and costly. Physical permits often create administrative
burdens, such as the need for regular renewals, permit distribu-
tion, and manual verification.
With ALPR for parking management, students, staff, and
visitors are no longer burdened by manual processes. Drivers can
register their vehicles online. They just need to enter their license
plate number and vehicle details into the system. Once registered,
vehicles are automatically recognized upon entering designated
parking areas. Verification is then conducted via access control
integration or mobile enforcement tools.
This self-service solution eliminates physical permits to re-
duce administrative burdens and overhead costs. Teams can fur-
ther reallocate resources that were once allocated for visual parking
verification. It also improves security by eliminating the possibility
that someone will lose, steal, or share permits.
It’s also possible your campus’s parking and transportation
department already uses ALPR. They may not realize that the same
system can enhance campus security. At the same time, you and
your team might be overlooking ALPR for applications beyond se-
curity. This gap in awareness is why communication is so important.
T H E V A L U E O F C R O S S - D E P A R T M E N T C O L L A B O R AT I O N
The main benefit of applying ALPR systems to enhance security and
parking management is cost savings. Now, you and your campus’s
parking department can share the resources needed to implement
and maintain the technology. This makes it simpler to justify the
investment in ALPR technology.
Security teams gain access to valuable vehicle data that aids
investigations and incident response, while transportation teams
benefit from automated, more efficient parking enforcement.
The insights gained from ALPR data also prove invaluable
for long-term planning and traffic management. Your campus
can predict peak traffic by analyzing historical and real-time ve-
hicle data. It can also optimize parking layouts and design more
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