SACRAMENTO, CA — The Sacramento city parking division recently equipped two vehicles with infrared cameras that read license plates, a computer with a database of vehicles with unpaid parking tickets, and a global positioning system to help nab people who try to avoid tickets by moving their cars a few spots every few hours, according to the Sacramento Bee newspaper on August 1. City officials predict the new technology – costing $75,000 per vehicle – will boost the number of parking tickets written. Installed two weeks ago on the city's "boot" truck, the equipment has tripled the number of vehicles to get clamped by "the boot" for having five or more unpaid parking tickets. The program, new in several cities nationwide, is only in limited test stages here, parking officials acknowledge. But they say they hope it will pry open more parking spaces weekdays in a crowded downtown, as well as pull in enough ticket revenue to pay for the equipment. When the cameras detect a license plate on a parked car that has outstanding tickets, the dashboard-mounted computer goes "BRONNG!" The global positioning system replaces the old chalk stick that parking officers use to mark tires to determine if a car has been moved. Parking officials say the computer's GPS system can tell if a car has been moved just 3 feet or three parking spaces since the last time they checked. In certain circumstances, if a car has been moved less than a block, city workers can ticket it, said Howard Chan, city parking services head. City Councilman Ray Tretheway said the city purchased the new equipment after merchants and residents complained that the city is not doing enough to stop scofflaw parkers. Before, only one or two vehicles were booted each day. With the new system, the boot truck workers average six. The "boot," a metal clamp that immobilizes the vehicle, is removed when the owner pays the tickets. The average price of a parking ticket in Sacramento can range from $35 to $50. The computer database contains only the license plate numbers of vehicles that have outstanding parking tickets, and only in the city of Sacramento. However, Chan said parking division officials are talking with city police about adding stolen cars to the database. Until then, besides the "boot" truck, only one of the city's fleet of meter scooters is equipped with the system. The rest continue their work the old-fashioned way – with the chalk stick.