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Ask Slashdot: Identifying a Stolen Car Using Police Camera Databases? 72

Posted by samzenpus from the it-happens-sometimes-people-just-explode dept.
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.
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Ask Slashdot: Identifying a Stolen Car Using Police Camera Databases? More

Ask Slashdot: Identifying a Stolen Car Using Police Camera Databases?

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  • locating it rather than looking incompetent

    I hope said client doesn't read Slashdot.

  • You "intern" for...? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Are you working for organised crime? Is that why you can't reoort the car stolen?

  • OK, semi-competent (Score:5, Insightful)

    by YrWrstNtmr ( 564987 ) on Wednesday April 01, 2015 @07:39PM (#49388971)
    For a /. April 1 post, this one is not bad.

    As opposed to the rest of the stupidness.

    • Re:OK, semi-competent (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anubis IV ( 1279820 ) on Wednesday April 01, 2015 @07:41PM (#49388981)

      Yeah, this was the first one that I had to look up, rather than recognizing outright as a plot to something with which I was at least vaguely familiar. Thankfully, the license plate turned up an immediate hit for a continuity error in the film (they messed up the plates in one scene), making it easy to figure out what it was describing [wikipedia.org].

      • really?

        on it's own *maaaaaaaybe* but after the non-stop drivel of ridiculous stories, this is prime April Fools material.

        • Completely agreed. Like I said, this was the first one that I didn't get the reference to. I never said that I didn't recognize it as an April Fool's Day gag, which is what you seem to have read from what I wrote. ;)

    • For a /. April 1 post, this one is not bad. As opposed to the rest of the stupidness.

      As proof, there are some people who have already posted serious replies.

      This is the first one that looked vaguely plausible, although anyone who didn't google the registration number before posting must feel a bit silly.

  • Plate has been changed. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Yaztromo ( 655250 ) on Wednesday April 01, 2015 @07:40PM (#49388977) Homepage Journal

    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

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 )

      No they ground up the composite panels to reclaim the cocaine it was pressed out of.

  • 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 th

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AK Marc ( 707885 )
      Cars? The repoman took my fucking kidney.

      • That was somebody from Apple. They screwed up. They were going for your pancreas.

        • That was somebody from Apple. They screwed up. They were going for your pancreas.

          I doubt it. The pancreas is not shiny at all.

        • That was somebody from Apple. They screwed up. They were going for your pancreas.

          They were probably holding him wrong. I hear that can cause problems.

    • Funny that you mention "repo men" since the car in the summary, down to the license plate, is from the opening scene in Repo Man. Don't look in the trunk.

  • This is the funniest joks so far I hope you can replace the meth before it is too late.

  • Don't drop the soap

  • don't open the trunk!

  • I got a hit. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    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 ti

  • That's all I have to say.

  • Yup. I can find it for you. (Score:3)

    by eclectro ( 227083 ) on Wednesday April 01, 2015 @10:51PM (#49389497)

    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. [imgur.com]

    All I need to proceed further is the VIN. Surely you have that, don't you?

    Damn, I'm 133t.

  • Out of the Blue (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Shrimp, Plate, or Plate of Shrimp or something. No Explanation.

  • 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

  • But the aliens already left with your car.
  • 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

  • If it's a relatively modern car, than all 5 tires are broadcasting a unique ID every so often - read about TPMS [wikipedia.org]. 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.

  • You sure the license plate wasn't New Mexico 09Q SBN?

  • laugh (Score:1)

    by koan ( 80826 )

    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.

  • 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 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

      Found on what planet?

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