OCEAN CITY, Md. – Ocean City police are using a statewide grant to improve its ability to monitor criminal activity coming into town. The roughly $125,000 grant is being used to install license plate readers along Coastal Highway and throughout the city.

The technology is nothing new and is already being used in Ocean City. Police Chief Ross Buzzuro said the new readers are a result of the state’s effort to combat heroin, in this case the trafficking of the drug along Coastal Highway, among other activities.

“They’re worth their weight,” Buzzuro says, “They never take a break, 24/7.”

Buzzuro said he expects the new readers to be installed in the next year. When asked about concerns people may have about privacy, he stated that law-abiding citizens have nothing to worry about.

The grant that will pay for the license readers is just one of a number of efforts driven by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s office in the fight against heroin.