Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Identifying a Stolen Car Using Police Camera Databases?
Dear Slashdot: First, some background. I have been "between schools" for some time, but have recently entered a training program that could at least potentially turn into a lucrative career. The work involves investigating, torture testing, and sometimes bypassing various automotive sub-systems, primarily car ignition, security and other embedded systems, for clients who are often surprised just how fragile these systems can be. The pay is minimal while I'm something more like an intern than a full-time employee, but that's OK -- I figure these skills will stand me in good stead. Now, my problem, and a question: One of the vehicles which I would very much like to play with is unavailable to me and my coworkers for the simple reason that it was stolen before we'd even taken possession of it. Normally, my employer might just write off the loss, but for various reasons would really like to locate this car in particular -- perhaps mostly a point of pride, but partly because future contracts from the same client might hinge on locating it rather than looking incompetent. I know that Ars Technica recently showed that it was possible to obtain a great deal of information about scanned registration-plate data using FOIA and other legal means; what I want to know is whether anyone can recommend particular tools or methods for locating stolen cars with such data that doesn't rely on going through the police or insurance companies, saving embarrassment and hassle. I know enough that I could probably file a FOIA *request* (most likely, my supervisor already has, actually) but not sure what we will be able to do with the raw data returned, or if there are sources for data other than "$Plate + GeoCoords." Plates obviously can be changed, too; are there publicly available sources for whole-car images that could be efficiently scanned? Best, of course, would be images with at least some rough sorting applied, so things could be sorted both by geography (we'd focus on our own area, Southern Caifornia, so start with, because we have reason to believe it was stolen in this area) and at least by vehicle type or color. And of course, this is probably asking too much, since I imagine it will be a near-impossible task to get this kind of data; we'd also welcome the magic of crowd-sourcing, so if you spot a tan Chevy Maibu with New Mexico plates (K88-283), there's probably some nice incentives in it for you.
locating it rather than looking incompetent
I hope said client doesn't read Slashdot.
Are you working for organised crime? Is that why you can't reoort the car stolen?
wouldn't the police alreay have a system to do just that?
Don't all cars now have a "black box" and possibly GPS that the police can use to find anyone? If not, maybe the car has OnStar or some other type of big brother system that could be used to locate and have a two way chat with the robber.
For a /. April 1 post, this one is not bad.
As opposed to the rest of the stupidness.
It is now 127-GBH
doubt anyone is driving the car. most likely it's been chopped up for parts or shipped to mexico and overseas to be sold on another continent
I actually had to look this one up. It's been too long since I've seen it.
Currently there are vehicle repo men who us video license plate readers. They work for private lenders and/or dealerships, so you can avoid the police / insurance company thing. I'm not sure if they have capability beyond license plate readers, like if you want to identify a make and model. Normally they mount the video camera onto a small car, and then troll neighborhoods and commercial parking lots until they identify a plate for a car they want to grab, and then they call in the tow truck. Potentially they could let you know if they get a hit, rather than you sorting thru video to get your hit, and then geo locate it to try and track it back.
What's in the trunk?
This is the funniest joks so far I hope you can replace the meth before it is too late.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Are there pecan pies in the back seat?
You've really hit on an interesting method to crowd-source the task of finding the guy your bosses are going to kill. At least that's one possibility for a post like this, right?
Don't drop the soap
don't open the trunk!
I found it!!!
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m68xbxPMqJ1qi4nyc.png
The owner of this car would probably greatly appreciate being notified that not only did the stupid-douche consulting outfit not secure the car properly and had it stolen, they are now recklessly delaying notifying the police in a desperate attempt to avoid being found out.
Many cars are stolen with the intention of parting them out. If that is the case the car surely will be disassembled within the first 48 hours and engines, transmissions and everything else will be stripped and the bare frame abandoned or even cut up and put inside other cars that are taken to the crushers as they pay by weight. High end cars are usually loaded on ships and exported. Your target are local idiots who hope to alter numbers, paint, change the appearance and keep the ride for a long time. If locals did it then there is some hope of finding the vehicle.
I am surprised your employer has not made you sign a non disclosure agreement to prevent you from discussing the work openly on the Internet. I would not be surprised if said company and client read Slashdot and start putting things together and figuring out the car they haven't see for a while is stolen. have fun with that
That's all I have to say.
I hate sigs, and refuse to have one.
I find it's just quicker to hack the parking enforcement database than wait around for stupid government FOIA. After all, they don't ask permission to snoop around with all of our electronic communications. An email for an email, so to speak.
Anyway Op, looking around in the department's server I ran across some dash cam video you'll probably be interested in, and I have a screenshot of your stolen car here.
All I need to proceed further is the VIN. Surely you have that, don't you?
Damn, I'm 133t.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
"saving embarrassment and hassle."
"for locating a vehicle that probably is in southern california " really means you want to track anyone without taking the legal hassle.
Any idea where that photo was taken? That skyline is awesome, and I need a roadtrip.
I art more snarky, and terse than thou. I art Slashdot!
Shrimp, Plate, or Plate of Shrimp or something. No Explanation.
Your god-damned brother.
The cops really couldn't care less. They have tons of violent crimes to deal with and surprisingly little funding...
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I also have a hard time believing a request like this makes it to the /. frontpage. It is too much to ask. First, license plate data is protected. No organization in their right mind will give you access to it. Second, no-one has the ability to recognize car models, and pictures are not necessarily stored, and certainly not pictures that allow recognition of the car. LPR cameras focus on the license plate alone. The error rate is somewhere between 1% and 5% for that, but at least the data is highly specific. Imagine there were cameras that recognized models. Error rates would be staggering, and what would you do with that data? Query how many Chevrolets Maribu have passed a certain camera? What good does that do? Nothing, and that's why there is only LPR on a large scale (and bluetooth, by the way). Third, the information and amount of work you request is in excess of the value of the car, and certainly more than your job's worth. It's not economic.
Painting car in the morning.
mmmm torture, krlrlkrkrlll
But the aliens already left with your car.
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."-THG
Here's the car, Otto: http://kdk12.tumblr.com/post/2...
I have been "between schools" for some time, but have recently entered a training program that could at least potentially turn into a lucrative career. The work involves investigating, torture testing, and sometimes bypassing various automotive sub-systems, primarily car ignition, security and other embedded systems, for clients who are often surprised just how fragile these systems can be
Car theft?lol
Jack of all trades,master of none
One assumes the purpose of the car plate readers is to stop crime and not spy on populous. One is wrong.
If it's a relatively modern car, than all 5 tires are broadcasting a unique ID every so often - read about TPMS. If you had those IDs, you could set up a simple set of receivers based on SDR dongles to monitor for them. I bet that pretty soon the plate readers mounted on tow trucks, police vehicles, etc will be scanning those IDs as well.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
You sure the license plate wasn't New Mexico 09Q SBN?
Hey, Windows users, there is no such thing as "forward" slash, there is only slash and backslash.
so if you spot a tan Chevy Maibu with New Mexico plates (K88-283), there's probably some nice incentives in it for you.
LOL yes next time I'm in Mexico I'll keep an eye out.
Cars are chopped the same day most of the time, it was stolen because it's either a super popular model easy to sell, or has common parts and is now in 10 or 15 different vehicles.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
I don't think you'll ever find it. A Chevy Malibu was either stolen for a joy ride, which generally the car is found near immediately or after a few days, the other case may be the car was stolen for parts. I hear many cars are stolen to strip for parts especially cars of the middle to low end.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
If this request is legit and your car was stolen in S. Cal. (you are not sure where it was stolen?), then the car is nothing more than car parts by now.
The entire post. Too long. I stopped reading after the autobiographical exposition phrases. Nobody cares if you are between schools. Get to the point. Tuning out now.