SGI is helping law enforcement crack down on disqualified drivers with automated licence plate readers.

These automated licence plate readers scan plates to let law enforcement know when a licence plate is connected to a criminal, a suspended driver, or a stolen or unregistered vehicle.

This week, 15 of the 32 automated licence plate readers are being put in patrol vehicles. The rest are scheduled to be installed by the end of next month.

Joe Hargrave, the Minister responsible for SGI, spoke about the importance of this for the province “Automated licence plate readers help make our roads safer because they allow police to quickly and efficiently identify drivers who may be high risk, and get them off the road. Disqualified drivers are often people who are suspended due to impaired driving, so this is one more tool police can use to catch impaired drivers, in support of new impaired driving laws that take effect January 1st.”

SGI is using $800,000 to install automated licence plate readers in all the patrol vehicles in the Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan pilot project, and has now funded 47 in the province, costing over $1 million.