PSNI first to adopt latest technology in fight against vehicle theft
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has become the first police force in the UK to adopt the Regula Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) inspection system from TSSI Systems to help combat a crime that costs the UK economy around £1 billion annually.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has become the first police force in the UK to adopt the Regula Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) inspection system from TSSI Systems to help combat a crime that costs the UK economy around £1 billion annually.
The Regula 7505M solution will allow officers to quickly see if a vehicles VIN has been altered and help to uncover its true identity. This allows PSNI officers to effectively identify stolen and recovered vehicles, plant and agricultural machinery.
As technology has developed, some false VIN plates have become so convincing that they can only be identified by expert analysis. The Regula solution employs Magneto Optical technology designed to uncover the original VIN, which does not destroy the original evidence.
It can identify VINs that have been altered and can also help reconstruct the vehicle chassis number in a non-destructive way. Rust, paint, lacquer coatings and other methods used to hide the alteration of the VIN are
ineffective as the systems imaging technology can reveal the extent of the criminal activity.
Ivor Lewis, CEO of TSSI Systems Limited, said: We all know about motor vehicle theft, but manufacturers have built in ever more sophisticated anti-theft devices. As a result, criminals have switched their attention to construction, transport and agricultural equipment things like tractors, trailers and diggers which are seen as easier targets.
The investment in the VIN inspection unit has the potential to deliver significant economic savings through more effective detection of stolen vehicles and successful prosecutions; recovering costs for insurers and the insured, and making it harder for the ringing of vehicles and machinery.
The Regula 7505 VIN analyser will be employed in PSNIs own investigations, and it will also offer the technology as a service to other police forces, vehicle examiners and insurance companies as an alternative method of VIN inspection.