Cambridgeshire improves crowd control capabilities

Civica plc is helping Cambridgeshire manage events and policing operations more efficiently after delivering two new Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) police vans to the force.

The vans have been used already to police large scale events in Cambridgeshire, ranging from the British Motorcycle Federation Rally which was attended by 80,000 people and more than 3,000 vehicles and Pop in the Park, another well attended music event that passed without incident. Cambridgeshire maintains order for a range of different events over its 1,300 square mile remit.

The technology encompasses a combination of Police National Computer (PNC), CCTV and ANPR, including Vehicle Enquiry Management (VEM) technologies which is the software processing element of the ANPR system. Once a vehicle registration plate is read by the ANPR engine, details are passed to VEM and processed by checking against multiple databases including connectivity to back office solutions for live PNC and PNC fast-track checking. Upon receipt of a match against a number plate in any of the databases, the system will give an audible alarm and save the vehicle image on screen for further action. VEM can be configured to send messages via SMS to mobile phones or alerts to pagers. The new Civica units provide a complete enforcement system that help increase policing efficiency by quickly identifying any incidents at large events.

Each van includes: dome colour cameras for use with CCTV and ANPR, infrared cameras to aid ANPR, remote pan, tilt and zoom controls for all cameras, digital recording facilities, uninterrupted power supply and on board generator, ergonomic environment with specialised seating and climate control and six metre extendable mast.

Sergeant Ted Hawkins, of Cambridgeshire, said: “Civica’s ANPR police vans are helping us police more efficiently when faced with either large scale events or any type of public disorder. We are able to check rapidly a high volume of vehicles for known or suspect registration plates with greatly reduced effort and more quickly identify trouble-makers in a public disorder incident. The vans and the technology contained within them have become an indispensable part of our policing in Cambridge and the surrounding area.”

Gavin Freed, managing director, Civica also commented: “Civica’s enforcement solutions combine best-of-breed technologies that enable our police service and other agency customers to provide a highly responsive service in support of community safety.”