by exchanging information system 20 can also be operated in conjunction with global satellite or other positioning systems not shown thus for example one squad car may identify a neighboring vehicle at a given location and another squad car may identify the same vehicle 30 minutes later at another location by calculating the distance traveled by the targeted vehicle the system could calculate the minimum speed that the target vehicle traveled during that time frame the vehicle license data gathered by system 20 during routine surveillance patrols could also be used for other than law enforcement purposes as needed and or authorized by local law regulations a contemplated method includes the following steps the processor 26 activates one or more cameras 22 a 22 b which capture images of nearby vehicle license plates the captured information is read by a frame grabber in each camera pixel output from the frame grabber s is passed by the processor 26 through image processing software algorithms to enhance the image if necessary detect the vehicle license plate position and through ocr software algorithms determine a license place number the processor then checks the license plate number against corresponding data records stored in memory 28 or in remote license plate number facility 60 for potential law enforcement related vehicle problems if a problem is identified the operator not shown is alerted audibly visually or in a vibratory manner using one or more of speaker 28 a computer display 28 b or vibratory interface 28 c respectively while the present.