7 North Shore Village Police Depts. To Get License Plate Readers

North Shore village police departments have been unable to afford costly license plate readers, State Senator Anna Kaplan's office announced on Monday, but now seven village police forces will receive grants of $150,000 each to buy them. The village police departments of Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Great Neck Estates, Port Washington, Sands Point, and Old Westbury will join larger police forces that use the license plate readers to track stolen vehicles and other crimes.

The grants are part of a larger $1,050,000 Public Safety Initiative aimed at addressing the recent increase in auto theft on the North Shore of Nassau, Kaplan said in a news release.

Great Neck Estates Mayor William D. Warner said in the release that he was grateful to "have another tool in our kit to fight crime here in the Village of Great Neck Estates and across the North Shore without asking local taxpayers to foot the bill."

In July, CBS News reported that 590 cars had been stolen in Nassau County since the beginning of the year, an increase of 150 percent over 2021.

The license readers can be attached to police cars or mounted in stationary spots, and can quickly check for matches with cars reported as stolen or involved in recent crime, or connected to wanted suspects.