LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — New technology in Lincoln County is helping deputies solve crimes and get guns off the streets.

It's a tiny camera with big power.

"It's been extremely helpful as of lately," said Det. Jake Weathers with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. "It kind of goes back to you don't know what you did without them."

They're called license plate readers. There are about two dozen of them placed in high-traffic areas across the county.

"They take two separate pictures — one of the back of the car and then a focus up on the license plate area of the car," said Weathers. "Then what that does is it stores it in a data bank and we can run it by make and model of the vehicle, color of the vehicle."

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office has had them for about two

See Full Page