Netflix's 'Unbelievable' Proves the Power of ALPR Systems

True crime stories that demonstrate the power and need for license plate readers are in the news often; we feature many of them right here on the blog. But we can't help but get just as excited when a Netflix series calls them out too—especially when it's a series that's based on a true story. Enter 'Unbelievable.'

About 'Unbelievable'

In case you haven't seen 'Unbelievable' on Netflix yet, here's a no-spoilers-ahead synopsis: Starring Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, and Kaitlyn Dever, the miniseries is about a teenager who was charged with lying about having been raped and two detectives who come together to solve the mystery of a serial rapist. It's based on a 2015 news article called "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" and is comprised of eight episodes of twists and turns. 

ALPR makes a cameo

In episode 7, our heads perked up during this exchange:

Detective (on the left): Okay, pull up the LPR database and see if we can get any hits on the Mazda.

Intern (that guy in the back): LPR?

His Boss (on the right): License Plate Reader. It's a small high-speed camera attached to the front of some of our patrol cars. They take a picture of every license plate they pass. Eighteen hundred pictures a minute, downloaded into a central database. 

And in episode 8, all we'll say is that the LPR may have come through:

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