Northants officer takes ANPR to USA

A Northamptonshire Police inspector has been to Florida to tell American law enforcement officers about the benefits of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR).

Inspector Pete Gill, who heads the Road Crime Unit within the Operations Department, had been invited to address the conference of the Florida Autocrime Intelligence Unit in Tampa, Florida, where it is hoped law enforcers will learn from the Northamptonshire success.

Inspector Gill also spent time with the Miami Dade Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol, who are both keen to emulate the use of ANPR in Northamptonshire as an intelligence tool to fight priority crime.

Inspector Gill said: “ANPR is an exceptionally useful policing tool in Northamptonshire, where our Road Crime Unit are able to target crimes and criminals that are a priority for the Force and our communities.

“I am really pleased that this success is recognised internationally and with credit to this force and hope to be able to bring back experience from America that will benefit policing in Northamptonshire.”

During the year 2006/7, the 12 officers using ANPR on the Road Crime Unit arrested 187 people for priority crimes – household burglary, robbery, class A drugs and vehicle crime – and more than 600 arrests in total. They also seized 445 vehicles that were dangerous, defective or unlicensed.