License plate scanners are old school by now. These scanners can instantly read the license plates on every car within view. Each license plate number is then scanned against a database of plate numbers to check for outstanding tickets or warrants or to see if the car's been reported stolen.
Since the pictures aren't stored, just the plate numbers, times and locations, that data can be kept indefinitely. And those stored plate numbers have helped solve crimes, said Paul Steinberg, chief technology officer for Motorola Solutions
For instance, when police in California were trying to solve a string of violent crimes, they simply had a computer comb through all the plate numbers scanned in the areas around three different crime scenes. The computer then eliminated the plates of cars belonging to people living in those areas. From the remaining tag numbers, only one showed up near all three crime scenes. An arrest quickly followed.
"When I talk to police officers they say 'Man, if we could put this on postal trucks, delivery trucks, the more information we could collect the better," said Paul Steinberg, chief technology officer for Motorola Solutions.
This new plug-in electric sedan will be revolutionary in more ways than one.
Find Your Next Car 
