2004
Home Office announces publication of PA Consulting Group report on Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems being piloted in 23 UK police forces
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02 November 2004
Successful pilot of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) contributes directly to 13,500 arrests, bringing more than three times the number of offences to justice that normal police would have done.
ANPR to be rolled out nationally, predicted to deliver approximately 15% of the Government’s target for bringing additional offences to justice.
Today the Home Secretary David Blunkett launched the findings of an evaluation on the use of ANPR systems with dedicated police intercept teams in 23 of the 42 police forces in England and Wales, carried out by PA Consulting Group.
Following research which found a link between vehicle documentation offences and volume crime, PA worked with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and Police Standards Unit (PSU) to take an established technology in ANPR and deploy it to police forces with the express aim of targeting crime.
In a report called ‘Driving crime down - denying criminals the use of the road’, PA found that the pilot - Laser 2 - was a major success. Over the 13 months of the scheme (June 2003 to July 2004) over 180,000 vehicles were stopped and 13,500 arrests made. The majority of these arrests were for non-driving related matters and the arrest rate was ten times higher than through conventional policing.
Key findings
The ANPR intercept teams stopped a total of 180,543 vehicles. From these stops, the intercept officers:
- arrested 13,499 persons for offences such as burglary, driving while disqualified, drugs offences and theft from and of vehicles
- recovered or seized property including 1,152 stolen vehicles, 266 offensive weapons, 13 firearms, drugs worth over £380,000 and stolen goods worth over £640,000
- issued over 50,000 penalty notices for failing to display Vehicle Excise Duty, lack of insurance or MOT, not wearing a seatbelt or driving while using a mobile phone.
The evaluation also confirmed previous research that had found a correlation between vehicle documentation offences and volume crime - 3,530 of all arrests (26%) originated from vehicle stops from no vehicle excise duty or current keeper.
David Blunkett said:
"ANPR is a powerful tool, unique in its ability to impact on crime at every level, from local volume crime through cross-border and organised crime and counter terrorism. It brings enormous benefits to the police and to society.
"More than 13,000 arrests have been made and £8 million of stolen goods and drugs seized as a result of targeted policing using hi-tech ANPR systems. Its impact goes far beyond the roads - thousands of arrests were made for theft, burglary and drugs offences.
"The Government's investment of an additional £15 million to support the ANPR programme means that even more offenders will be brought to justice. It will allow police forces throughout England and Wales to improve and build on their capacity to deny criminals the use of the road. It will ensure that national roll-out of this innovative system can progress quickly."
Jim Knox, a Member of PA’s Management Group, added:
"Our work with the Home Office and ACPO over the last two years has demonstrated how to develop and implement policy, from establishing a concept, securing backing from all stakeholders, through to proving the concept and results are scalable and sustainable at a national level. This was delivered through an open and collaborative relationship between the Laser teams in participating forces, ACPO, PSU and PA Consulting Group."
Ends
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Notes to editors
1. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is an established technology that allows vehicles observed by video cameras to have their vehicle registration mark (VRM) ‘read’ using pattern recognition software. Police have used ANPR systems at strategic points for a number of years, for example ports, tunnels and as part of the ‘ring of steel’ around the City of London.
2. In September 2002, the first phase of Project Laser started in nine police forces (Laser 1). PA provided programme support, worked with the Police Standards Unit to identify good practice and provided independent monitoring of the pilot.
3. The pilot was extended in June 2003 to a further 14 forces across England and Wales (ie 23 forces in total). Thus, less than a year after the pilot began, more than half the forces in England and Wales had significant ANPR intercept potential
About PA Consulting Group
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