Hi-tech vehicle number plate readers are set to help police in more forces catch more criminals, Home Office Minister Bob Ainsworth announced today as he published the first results of a successful pilot.
In trials, the cutting edge Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system has helped police seize more than £100,000 in illegal drugs and recover over 300 stolen vehicles (with a value in excess of £2 million) and £715,000 in stolen goods. More than 3,000 people were arrested - ten times more than the national average - with the majority of arrests being for serious crimes.
The system was piloted for six months in nine police forces. Following the success of the pilot, it will now be rolled out to 23 forces in England and Wales. Evidence from the ANPR trials has borne out police experience of strong links between road traffic offences and more serious crime.
A powerful technological tool in the fight against serious crime, ANPR systems instantly scan number plates and match them against information stored in databases to identify vehicles of interest to the police such as stolen cars or those involved in crime. When a suspicious vehicle is recognised it becomes the focus of police targeted interceptions and enquiries.
Mr Ainsworth also announced today that fixed penalty notice receipts from offences detected through ANPR will help fund the further expansion of the pilot scheme. From 1 June 2003, the fixed penalty scheme for motoring offences will be extended to include three additional offences; failing to supply driver details when required, driving without insurance or an MOT certificate, together with an increased penalty for failing to display a current tax disc.
Mr Ainsworth said:
"Criminals, like everyone else, need to use the roads – but in areas where ANPR technology is in operation, they are increasingly vulnerable. Arrest rates of ten times the national average were achieved by police intercept teams in the nine pilot areas, with officers engaged on ANPR duties making the equivalent of over 100 arrests each annually. Significantly, the majority of arrests were for criminal offences such as drugs, theft or being the subject of an arrest warrant rather than motoring offences.
"This crime fighting technology coupled with officers' local knowledge and experience, means vehicles are stopped in a more focused, intelligence-led way, so honest motorists are less likely to be pulled over by the police.
"And because the further expansion to 23 forces of this innovative pilot will partly be financed by new revenue from fixed penalties for offences detected by the technology, it will ensure that those who breach the law pay for its policing.
"This is part of the Government's wider police reform agenda, designed to help forces target resources better and make officers' time on the streets more effective. Exploiting technology to improve efficiency will help the police meet their targets for continuing crime reduction and bringing criminals to justice."
Frank Whiteley, Chair of the Association of Chief Police Officers Steering Group on ANPR added:
"ANPR is a powerful tool to fight crime. We believe that by extending ANPR technology, backed up by dedicated police intercept teams, to all 280 local police command units in the country, we can effectively deny criminals the use of the roads. The next stage of Project Laser is an important step to achieve this aim. The use of fines money to help finance this activity means that few police officers will need to be drawn from other duties to achieve this, which is a great bonus."
The second phase of the ANPR pilot scheme will run until this December. Results from the 23 forces participating in the pilot will be fully evaluated and inform the national roll out of ANPR expected to commence by summer 2004. Good practice guidance for the police has been developed to ensure the technology is used as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Notes to Editors
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The 23 forces taking part in phase two of the ANPR pilot scheme are; Avon and Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, City of London, Cleveland, Greater Manchester Police, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Metropolitan Police, Northamptonshire, Northumbria, North Wales, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midland, West Yorkshire.
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The Home Office has already provided support for all forces to use ANPR with £4.65 million worth of funding from the Crime Reduction Programme. Entitled Project Spectrum, this provided each force in England and Wales with one fully compatible mobile ANPR unit and associated back-office facility in June 2002. In addition many forces have purchased additional ANPR capability.
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ANPR systems can check up to 3,000 number plates per hour on vehicles travelling up to 100 mph. Number plates are then checked against a variety of databases including the Police National Computer, DVLA databases and local intelligence databases.
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The new motoring offences which will now be covered by the fixed penalty scheme are: failing to supply details necessary to identify an offending driver, contrary to s 172, Road Traffic Act 1998 (RTA), with a penalty of £120; having no insurance, contrary to s 143 RTA with a penalty of £200; having no MOT certificate contrary to s 47 RTA with a penalty of £60; the penalty for having no vehicle excise licence displayed contrary to s 33 Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 will be increased to £60 from 1 June 2003.
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The first phase of the ANPR pilots was announced on 14 November 2002. Home Office PN 306/2002 refers. The evaluation of phase I of the pilots was conducted by PA Consulting Group.
Case studies
The following cases were triggered by hits on a number of databases, including the PNC and local force databases.
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A hit identified the vehicle keeper as being involved in drugs. A stop and search uncovered bankcards in several different names. On arrest, a drugs search was carried out. Heroin to the value of £1,000 was recovered and £600 in cash. Enquiries revealed that the driver had 8 aliases, one of which had been wanted on warrant for two years, while a search of their home found various drugs paraphernalia
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A hit led to a driver being detained and arrested on suspicion of a murder in Jamaica and an armed robbery in London. He was subsequently deported
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A hit led to a vehicle being stopped where the keeper was disqualified from driving. The stop and subsequent enquiries showed that the driver had warrants outstanding for failing to appear at courts for offences of assault and theft. The driver was subsequently charged with disqualified driving, associated document offences and remanded in custody
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A hit led to a vehicle being stopped where the keeper was disqualified from driving. The driver was not the named target, however the new owner was also subject to driving disqualification. A search of the vehicle revealed 2.5 kilos of cannabis
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A hit led to a vehicle being stopped and searched for failing to respond to speeding tickets. Upon further examination and telephone enquiries the vehicle was identified as an outstanding stolen vehicle from a neighbouring force area
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A hit led to a vehicle being stopped and the driver questioned and subsequently searched. The driver was found to be in possession of £8,500, which had come from an armed robbery that occurred 50 minutes prior to the stop
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Ahit led to a vehicle being stopped and the driver questioned. When talking to the driver the officers became suspicious of driver's identity. In custody, the driver was finally identified and found to be a disqualified driver who was also wanted on two separate occasions for failing to appear at court, again for disqualified driving
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