The entire fleet of Victoria Police's 221 highway patrol cars will be fitted with state-of-the-art number plate recognition technology in the next three years.

The fleet of highway cars will be capable of scanning more than a million vehicles per shift by 2021.

The camera connects to an iPad inside the patrol car. Credit:Victoria Police

Unregistered and stolen cars, unlicensed drivers and those with outstanding warrants will be targeted by the new cameras.

The cameras will be installed in 38 highway patrol vehicles by the middle of the year, with the full rollout to be completed by June 2021.