ANPR National Day of Action

Tue, 16 March 2010 Courtesy of: ACPO

Police made 249 arrests and seized 431 vehicles using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) equipment during a national day of action last Friday (12 March 2010).

ANPR devices are used by police around the UK to detect and remove serious criminals, unsafe vehicles and unsafe drivers from our roads. The national day of action was organized by the Association of Chief Police Officers.

ACPO chair of the ANPR National User Group, Deputy Chief Constable Simon Byrne said “Many criminals rely on vehicles to commit crime. There are very strong links between illegal use of motor vehicles on the road and other types of serious crime. By denying criminals use of the roads the police will be better able to enforce the law and prevent and detect crime.

“This is the first national campaign we have held and the response from forces has been outstanding”

“Some pleasing results during the day included the recovery of a large bag of cannabis from a vehicle which led to a house search and the discovery of a cannabis factory; a stolen vehicle with false number plates that is thought to have been involved in several burglaries and the discovery of 40,000 contraband cigarettes from Latvia. A number of high value cars were seized including an £18,000 BMW, a Mercedes ML and a Porsche Boxster.”

ANPR devices scan vehicle registrations and check them against information stored on the Police National Computer (PNC) and other databases (such as those of the DVLA and the Motor Insurers Bureau). Officers are instantly alerted if the vehicle is of interest to police. Those vehicles are then stopped by police and the occupants spoken to.

“This is the first national campaign we have held and the response from forces has been outstanding with 1200 officers throughout the country working on this campaign.”

“ANPR has proven its worth many times and officers working on ANPR operations arrest up to five times more offenders than patrol officers normally would,” Mr Byrne said.

ANPR has been highly effective in securing very quick lines of enquiry that have led to early arrests and in securing the very best evidence to support criminal prosecutions.

“It’s an invaluable tool in the campaign to make our communities safer and to allow the majority of people who lawfully use our roads to continue to do so unhindered. The safer our communities and roads are, the better for everyone.”