Last year more than 1,100 cars were stolen in the Pikes Peak Region, one out of every three of them were never recovered.

To help reduce that number, some Southern Colorado police departments are getting a new piece of equipment. It is called a license plate reader. Consisting of two cameras and a program similar to face recognition software, it scans license plates as they pass the cruiser.

The completely automated system allows the driver to focus on the road and what is going on around them. Meanwhile, thousands of license plates can be read in a single shift. Officers will download the latest stolen vehicle list from the National Crime Information Center. When a license plate matches an entry, the computer will alert the driver. A picture of the vehicle, and it's location in relation to the police cruiser will be provided as well.

"I think it's going to be really useful because we will be able to locate a lot more stolen vehicles and a lot more suspended drivers while at the same time we can be safe driving and pay attention to our surroundings," says Stacey Clark, a patrol officer for the Colorado Springs Police Department.

The cameras are being purchased with grant money from the state. $216,000 is being split between the Colorado Springs Police Department, El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Pueblo County Sheriff's Office, Pueblo Police Department, Fountain Police Department and Monument Police Department. The grant is part of the Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority, which gets it money from insurance companies via Senate Bill 60, which went into effect on July 1, 2008.

In addition to the six cameras, grant money will be used to pay for overtime associate with follow-up investigation related to auto thefts.