West Penn Township Police Chief James Bonner shared a photograph of a stolen vehicle that was recently taken by a department license plate reader.

Seconds after the reader alerted police to the vehicle, West Penn police stopped the driver.

And the vehicle - a Mercedes SUV - was eventually returned to its rightful owner.

“We were able to resolve this,” Bonner told those on hand for Monday’s supervisors’ meeting.

Supervisors amended Monday’s meeting agenda to allow Bonner to explain how the crime fighting tool is used.

“It is a high-speed camera and sophisticated software that converts license plate images into data that can be compared to information in other databases,” he said.

In other words, the reader notifies law enforcement agencies of stolen vehicles or other problems.

“It will give us what we call a ‘hit’ that there is something wrong,” Bonner said.

“If someone drives by us that is a wanted person, it will alert us.”

Officers confirm the “hit” and then stop the driver.

License plate readers also signal officers to Megan’s Law violators, missing persons or Amber Alerts.

And if a crime has been committed, police departments can share the information so other agencies can assist, Bonner said.

He noted that the majority of offenses detected by the township’s plate readers are suspended registrations.

“Nine out of 10 times we get a suspended registration, we have a suspended driver,” he said. “So then we impound those vehicles.”

Supervisors commended Bonner and his force for the work they’re doing.