St. Charles Police Department Locates Suspects in University Bomb Threat, Gas-Station Drive-Offs, and Other Cases using Vigilant Solutions License Plate Recognition and Online Investigative Tools

LIVERMORE, Calif., July 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Vigilant Solutions announces today that St. Charles Police Department in Missouri is seeing benefits from Vigilant's diverse offering of mobile license plate readers, license plate recognition data, Mobile Companion smartphone application, and hosted LEARN enterprise solution for investigations.  Most recently, their use enabled the identification and location of a suspect in a bomb threat at Lindenwood University.

Officer Ken Mayer states, "We implemented Vigilant in April of this year, and we had no idea what a success the system would be.  Within only weeks of use, we found that the product and service from Vigilant far exceeded our expectations.  This is the most useful tool I've seen in my twenty years of law enforcement!  At this point, the only problem we have is potential legislation that may limit our access to LPR data…data that is helping us solve and prevent many crimes.  We are looking forward to expansion of the system, and are also excited to hear that Vigilant will soon offer a facial recognition solution."

Officer Mayer adds, "In addition to helping find the suspect in a recent bomb threat at Lindenwood, the system has helped us on numerous other cases.  In one case, we were looking for a self-confessed meth addict.  We ran her plate through the Vigilant system and found it was read ten times in the past two weeks. Using this information, we were able to canvass the area and locate the suspect in a basement where she was placed under arrest.  She confessed to stealing cash and currency from her eighty-two-year-old grandmother as well as two gas-station drive-offs."

"In another case, we were working a traffic crash where one of the vehicles left the scene.  The suspect left the other party with a first name, license plate number and insurance information.  Upon checking the license plate with our Department of Revenue, we found that the license plate belonged to a Kia, while the victim stated the vehicle was a Toyota.  The phone number associated with the license plate had been disconnected, and the address of record did not yield any leads.  Using Vigilant's mobile app on his iPhone, the officer was able to find historical sightings of the license plate, attached to a Toyota.  Shortly afterward, officers responded and found the vehicle parked in front of the apartment complex that the Mobile Companion app had identified."

Shawn Smith, Founder and President of Vigilant, states, "It is always nice to hear these success stories, especially when it involves so many aspects of our solution.  We applaud the efforts of St. Charles, and of every officer in uniform, for the difficult and dangerous work they do every day.  We hope that our efforts can, in some small way, improve the safety and efficiency of their operations."

About Vigilant Solutions:
Based in Livermore, California, Vigilant Solutions is an industry-leading pioneer of innovative intelligence solutions that help law enforcement protect officers, families and communities.  For additional information, visit www.vigilantsolutions.com.

Editorial contact:
Brian Shockley, +1 (925) 398-2079 ext 731, [email protected]

SOURCE Vigilant Solutions