If you like technological gadgets, you’ll love this one. This crime-fighting tool helps police track down stolen cars in seconds.

In Colorado, the police and sheriff’s agencies in Adams County can run license plates on fourteen vehicles in about five seconds. Cameras are mounted on police cars. These cameras automatically scan license plates and provide vehicle information from each parked or moving car.

The system can scan up to 3,600 license plates per hour or 15 plates per second. Officers can drive 60 mph down the road and scan plates at the same time. The plate readers work either day or night. The information is checked instantly against databases and can identify stolen vehicles, drivers with active warrants and even sex offenders driving the car. In addition, the technology can be used to find children in Amber Alerts.

In one month, Commerce City, Thornton Police and the Adams County Sheriffs Department have made two felony arrests and recovered two stolen vehicles. Adams County plans to equip all their vehicles soon. A grant from the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority paid for the first three.