NewsWatch: Public Safety -- License Plate Scanning, Rape Kit Testing Outsourced

Chicago Writing Fewer Parking Tickets, Using Boot More
Chicago is writing fewer parking tickets, but slapping more vehicles with the wheel-locking Denver boot. The city issued just under 1.66 million parking tickets during the first eight months of this year, down 11.6 percent or 219,664 from the 1.88 million tickets written during the same period a year ago. Chicago Sun-Times

County Outsources 4,763 Rape Kits for Testing
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has completed counting and outsourcing nearly 5,000 backlogged rape kits that sparked controversy in 2008. The kits still need to be tested and processed, but the Sheriff's Department is on track to meet that goal in June 2011, spokesman Steve Whitmore said. Los Angeles Times

Officers Scan Hundreds of Plates an Hour
Those driving through Weber County, Utah, with expired tags or without auto insurance beware — a newly equipped patrol car can scan your license plate and let the officer know within seconds that you’re skirting the law. A Dodge Durango with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office decal has been equipped with four cameras attached to a computer program that can process several hundred license plates in an hour and let the officer patrolling the area know if the registered driver has arrest warrants or unpaid speeding tickets, or if the car might be stolen. Salt Lake Tribune

County Proposes Pit Bull Restrictions
Pit bull owners in Gwinnett County, Ga., will be required to register their dogs and to provide an enclosure to contain the animals under a new proposed ordinance. The county Animal Advisory Council is expected to discuss the measure at its quarterly meeting on Tuesday. Atlanta Journal-Constitution