License plate readers assisted in the arrest of man accused of detonating an explosive device at AG’s office.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - The man responsible for detonating an improvised explosive device, or IED, at the Attorney General’s office in February is now in custody

Kyle Calvert, a 26-year-old Irondale man, has been charged with malicious use of an explosive and possession of an unregistered firearm.

Law enforcement agencies say license plate readers played a part in solving this case, using them to follow Calvert’s car from Montgomery to his house in Irondale.

Pell City Police Chief Clay Morris says those readers are invaluable in finding and arresting suspects.

Morris worked with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration before leading the Pell City Police Department. He saw several years ago how beneficial license plate readers were in determining how and where drugs were being transported and who was transporting them.

Now he’s happy to see it used at the local level, and it’s a tool to fight crime not only just any one community

“They are effective through multiple jurisdictions, multiple states, and across the county,” says Chief Morris. “Because if you find how a person is transporting to and from his crime, or how they communicate before and after doing their crime, you can quickly begin to put the pieces of the puzzle together, one, to identify a suspect and, two, if you know the suspect then to follow his pattern of life or pattern of criminal activity. I can’t tell you how beneficial they are to law enforcement and our investigative process.”

If convicted on the two federal charges, Calvert could serve five to 20 years in prison.

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