1. A method for detecting a vehicle occupant, comprising the steps of: providing an apparatus comprising a camera and an illumination device, wherein the camera comprises a linear polarization filter secured adjacent a camera lens, wherein the camera lens has a fixed field of view; detecting the presence of an oncoming vehicle, wherein the vehicle includes at least one vehicle window separating a vehicle interior enclosure from an external environment, wherein the at least one vehicle window has a frame surrounding the at least one vehicle window; triggering the automatic capture of a plurality of current facial images of at least one vehicle occupant present within the vehicle interior enclosure when the at least one vehicle window frame is maximized in the fixed field of view, wherein each of the plurality of current facial images is captured automatically via the camera through the linear polarization filter, and wherein each of the plurality of current facial images is further captured from a different distance to the oncoming vehicle; obtaining, by a processing unit, at least one archived image of at least one individual; comparing, by the processing unit, at least one of the current facial images with the at least one archived image; and determining whether the at least one vehicle occupant and the at least one individual are the same.