Equipped with a few new tricks up their sleeves, not much will be getting past Lewis County law enforcement.

    Along with announcing two additional automated license plate reader systems, the county is launching an electronic ticketing system officially on Nov. 1.

    The Board of Lewis County Commissioners approved a call for bids on the license-reading systems early Monday.

    Thousands of dollars worth of equipment will be purchased using the county’s homeland security program grant, 25 percent of which the county is required to spend on programs such as the plate readers, according to Lewis County Director of Centralia Service Michael Strozyk.

    Using the mounted system, officers can access up to 1,500 license plates a minute, read by a computer and cameras on top of the vehicle.

    The system alerts the officer if a vehicle is stolen or the driver has active warrants. It can also assist in Amber Alert searches, Strozyk said.

    The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and Chehalis and Centralia police departments currently share one of those systems, bought with a $30,000 grant the Chehalis Police Department received earlier this year. Since many county police departments will share the new equipment, law enforcement will be that much more effective, Strozyk said.

    In another program officially launching Nov. 1 according to county officials, electronic ticketing system cuts out a paper trail and forwards driver information directly to courts.

    That system has its ups and downs. Only one piece of paper is made for a driver when an electronic ticket is given, and officers said it makes their jobs faster and easier.

    On the other hand, it gives an opportunity to save money. Working with a tight budget that requires cuts, Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden said he had to lay off two paralegals two weeks ago.