SOURCE: Gatso USA
November 24, 2008 08:00 ET
GATSO USA Introduces Industry's First AMBER Alert Photo Enforcement Camera -- Helping Police Stop Child Abductions
Camera's AMBER Alert Feature Can Drastically Increase Chances of Locating Abducted Children During Crucial First Minutes of Search
BEVERLY, MA--(Marketwire - November 24, 2008) - Gatso USA, a leading photo enforcement systems
provider, announced today that after one year of development, testing and
customer evaluation, its flagship GS11 red light and speed camera now
carries an AMBER Alert feature that can help ensure the safety of abducted
children by decreasing law enforcement's response time in locating
suspected criminals. The AMBER Alert Program is a voluntary partnership
between law enforcement, broadcasters, and transportation agencies to
activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases.
The camera's AMBER Alert feature enables police departments to search in
real time for wanted or suspect vehicles at intersections or locations
within a city's network of compatible red light or speed photo enforcement
cameras. When a suspect vehicle passes a camera location, the camera
immediately reports the information back to the police department.
In a recent evaluation of Gatso USA's GS11 AMBER Alert capability conducted
in a south suburb of Chicago, Deputy Chief David DeMarco of the Oak Forest
Police Department, the chief coordinator of the evaluation, stated, "I was
amazed. Within 20 seconds of passing a camera location, we were notified
in the field with a message and a photo that my car was detected at the
camera location when the AMBER Alert feature was activated. It's a
priceless tool for law enforcement when looking for a suspect vehicle
involved in an abduction or serious crime. We consider the evaluation to
be highly successful."
The evaluation was coordinated after the city of Oak Forest installed
several of Gatso's GS11 red light photo enforcement solutions for
designated intersections within the city. The city of Oak Forest conducted
an extensive evaluation of five red light camera photo enforcement
solutions and selected Gatso based on product performance as well as the
beneficial cost structure provided, which does not require any capital
expenditure from the City or the police department.
"We are excited about the value that our AMBER Alert capability provides to
law enforcement in helping to save children's lives by immediately locating
a suspect vehicle involved in child abductions and other serious crimes,"
said Andrew Noble, President of Gatso USA.
Nearby cities of Hanover Park and Streamwood, Illinois will also have their
Gatso red light cameras enabled with the AMBER Alert feature, linking the
two cities for a broader detection area.
About Gatso
For more than 50 years Gatso has been providing world-class photo
enforcement systems to law enforcement and transportation agencies at the
federal, state and local levels. Spanning 60 countries and 45,000 camera
installations, Gatso continues to be the pioneer in leading edge traffic
enforcement systems. Earning vast government technical approvals, globally,
Gatso has set the standard in the US market by providing the first digital
traffic camera to the market in 1998 through to introducing unprecedented
AMBER Alert capabilities in 2008.
Gatso USA is headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts with offices in
Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio. For additional information please
visit our website www.gatso-usa.com.