But the state's Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division didn't have to pay for the Pips system. Two were purchased with grant money, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the Swanson Family Foundation have provided two others — one of which will be used by the Weber County Sheriff's Office.

No other jurisdictions in the state have the license-plate readers yet, but the day may come, Jorgensen said. In Italy, all but two police agencies in the country have outfitted every patrol vehicle with the readers.

The system isn't perfect, but it has a 90 percent accuracy when reading license plates, Stoddard said. Because there is a picture of the license plate along with the computer's rendering of it as text, the patrol officer can correct the computer if the camera misreads.

But when there's a confirmed hit, the patrol officer just has to call the local jurisdiction to make an arrest.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com