National ANPR system set to go live in three months

A national Automatic Number Plate

Recognition (ANPR) system linking all 43 forces in England and Wales

will be ready to go live by June, according to manufacturers Anite.

A spokesman for the company said that the system which would be

implemented by PITO in three months time would tell police officers

“within four seconds” whether a vehicle is uninsured, has been stolen,

is known to have been involved in a crime, or is under surveillance.

“The new system will employ thousands of cameras on fixed poles or in

mobile police vans on all major highways, key back roads and vital

intersections across the UK,” said the spokesman.

“Each of the system’s cameras, backed up by computers that read numbers

from their images, can monitor 3,600 license plates per hour. This

information is immediately cross-referenced with a police database of

plates registered to people suspected of breaking the law.

“The database is also linked to the DVLA and Motor Insurance databases,

allowing officers to identify vehicles that are not registered, taxed,

insured or are without a valid MOT.

“All ANPR systems will be connected and integrated by Anite to ensure

that data is centrally managed and stored, providing an informed and

secure process for making fast and effective decisions.”

The national roll out marks a major advance over the past five years;

as recently as 2001, only the Met had specialist ANPR vehicles which

could be set up at the roadside and deployed to monitor high profile

events.

John Dean, ACPO national ANPR co-ordinator, said: “Anite has played an

important role in our ANPR trials, resulting in a major increase in the

average number of arrests per officer by up to a factor of 10. The ANPR

system will revolutionise policing.”

Lee Hendricks, managing director of Secure Information Solutions at

Anite added: “People have the right to live in a safe and secure

society, and surveillance technology is one of the most successful

tools in the police service’s arsenal. It enables them to act on

real-time intelligence to ensure police attention is focused where it

is most needed.”