Glen Cove police will launch a pilot program consisting of license plate scanners.

A license plate reader could be installed on Route 107, which is a key artery into Glen Cove.

The scanners are being rented from a company out of Atlanta as part of a pilot program to combat crime. Police say this will be especially helpful at a time when the city is seeing an increase in car thefts.​

“Car larcenies here in Glen Cove went up, probably double last year,” says Glen Cove Police Department's Detective Lt. John Nagle.

Nagle says 10 license plate readers will be installed in key locations across the city.

“If you have a crime that’s occurring somewhere in one part of town, you can track the vehicle or get a description of the vehicle, you might be able to determine what the plate number is and where that vehicle comes back to and who may be driving it,” he explains.

Nagle says they will also be alerted when there is a car wanted in the city or by other police departments.

“Another jurisdiction may have a crime that they committed. They put the car plate in the system and then we get that vehicle in Glen Cove, so now we know, 'hey, this is a car we should be looking out for,'” he says.

Other police departments across Long Island and across the country are already using them. Their use, however, raises privacy concerns for Susan Gottehrer with the New York Civil Liberties Union.

“If you go to an AA meeting, if you go into a church, mosque or synagogue, all of these things, where do you shop -- all of these things are now being captured,” she says.

Walter Williams, of Glen Cove, says where he goes is no secret.

“If you’re not doing anything wrong, you shouldn’t have worry about anybody reading your license plate," he says.

With increased thefts in the city, Locust Valley resident Alexis Perez would feel much better if the readers are around.

“If there’s a bad person or someone steals my car, it would be nice to know that they’re able to track it right away,” Perez says.

​Police say the information collected will be stored in a cloud by the company and that it will be deleted after 30 days.