AUTOMATIC NUMBER PLATE RECOGNITION

Page 1 | 2 | 3
 

Derbyshire police officers say Automatic Number Plate Recognition is their most effective tool in the fight against crime. Motorists who passed the swarm of fluorescent jackets, police cones, tape and motorcycles on Agard Street last week probably thought some kind of grizzly crime was being investigated. What they would not have realised was, as their attention shifted to the activity on the side of the road, that their vehicle had already become one of 7,860 which were checked during Thursday as part of Derbyshire Police's Operation Tradition.

An inconspicuous car parked at the top of the street contained two cameras, and before the driver had joined the inner ring road, a computer had cross-referenced the registration plate against information held on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and police national computer records. By the time drivers had noticed the police officers, traffic wardens and other officials, their vehicle details, insurance, MoT and licence would have already been checked by Derbyshire police's most effective tool in their fight against crime.

If the car was known to be involved in a crime, a police officer could have placed a "marker" on the registration plate, and this would also be shown on the computer screen mounted on the dashboard of the unmarked police car. Officers on motorcycles would then be alerted and they would pull the vehicle over. The vehicle and driver would then be checked. Of the thousands of vehicles checked, the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera mounted in the back window of the car brought up 145 "hits" which led to four arrests, and 51 more will receive a summons through the post to attend court.

Not a bad result for just one day, and the operation will continue at 12 different locations throughout the county. And it was not just the registration plates that were undergoing checks. Vehicles were checked to MoT standards, HM Customs and Excise carried out tests for red diesel, and taxi licensing officers from Derby City Council checked both Hackney and Private Hire Vehicles. "Rather than stopping each vehicle as it comes along the road, this operation is very much intelligence based," said Inspector Graham McLaughlin, section inspector for Derby North.

He added, "Instead of holding up 100 motorists, and getting them to bring in their driving licence, MoT certificate, and things like insurance details we've access to a database which shows if the vehicle is licensed and taxed and the driver has a licence. This means that decent people don't get stopped unnecessarily and we can make sure that only the bad guys are." And four of those "bad guys" happened to be passing along Agard Street, and were arrested, one for the theft of a motor vehicle, and officers were able to recover that vehicle, one for drink-driving, and two disqualified drivers.

On top of this, eight court summonses were issued for driving without a licence, 10 for driving without insurance, and 14 under the vehicle defect rectification scheme (VDR), which aims to address minor faults on vehicles. If the owner repairs, for example, the broken headlight which caused it to be pulled over, to MoT standards the driver will not face prosecution. Three motorists will also receive a summons for not having a tax disc, six more vehicles were clamped by the DVLA and 10 motorists were found to have serious defects with their vehicles, including problems with the handbrake and heavy exhaust emissions.

One of the official bodies taking part in the exercise was HM Customs and Excise. Representatives were checking vehicles for the use of red diesel. It is illegal to use red diesel, usually used in farm machinery, in road vehicles as the fuel is not taxed. It can also damage engines. To evade detection, criminals remove the red dye from the diesel, this is called laundered diesel. A spokesman for HMCE, based in Mansfield Road, said, "Even in the city about one in 100 vehicles are operating on illegal red diesel. The aim of the test is to check if the vehicles we've pulled over are using the illegal fuel."

The ANPR team, which became fully operational with a core of six officers in Derbyshire, a van and unmarked police cars, has already led to around 70 arrests. Sergeant Dave Richardson of the ANPR team, said, "It's the biggest crime prevention tool we've got. It's at the forefront of technology and it's not a traffic policing tool, it's a crime-fighting tool. We're denying criminals the use of the roads. No criminal I know walks from job to job. We use the van, which was provided by the Home Office, and also unmarked cars. The motorcycle teams are also a very successful tool to intercept vehicles and we're all experienced officers. Although the team is based in Derby, it covers the whole of the force area."

He added, "To date, we've had about 70 prisoners as a result of the ANPR camera, found 140 drivers with no insurance, and taken 20 vehicles off the road because the drivers had no insurance. We've also arrested lots of disqualified drivers, and teams of criminals that operate in Derbyshire from outside the area. We've teams of travelling criminals that come to Derbyshire to ply their trade, and also criminals wanted on warrants from different force areas." The marked ANPR van has previously featured in the Evening Telegraph, but instead of its criminal-catching capabilities, residents contacted the newspaper after it was parked on double yellow lines, on the pavement and at a bus stop in Osmaston Park Road.

Sgt Richardson, said, "The police have an exemption to park on double yellow lines under the Road Traffic Act because we're carrying out a job of work. It's the same for someone from BT or the electricity board to park on double yellow lines, as long as they're also working. People seem to be jumping on the bandwagon to criticise the police and speed cameras, but these ANPR cameras are not for catching speeding motorists. We're not after Mr and Mrs Law-Abiding-Citizen. We're after people who deserve to be stopped." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

Next >>>