Driving crime down - denying criminals the use of the road
There are many vehicles being driven on UK roads that do not have the necessary documentation. For example, there are approximately 1.8 million vehicles on the road that do not have a valid excise duty - which loses HM Treasury over £190 million per annum.
In the past it had not been possible for these offences to be rigorously enforced due to the sheer volume of traffic, but new technology now provided a possible solution. Moreover, a number of studies had established a link between vehicle document offences and criminality. It followed, therefore, that any initiative to tackle motoring offences could also detect more serious crime.
In 2002, PA worked with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to exploit the capability of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technologies, using dedicated ANPR-enabled police intercept teams.
While police had already used ANPR as part of counter-terrorism measures, the extensive use of ANPR-enabled intercept teams, linked to existing intelligence databases, was a new development. To prove its benefits the Home Office Police Standards Unit (PSU) and ACPO decided to undertake a two-phase pilot, Project Laser.
In September 2002, the first phase of Project Laser started in nine police forces (Laser 1). PA provided programme support, worked with the PSU to identify good practice and provided independent monitoring of the pilot. After six months of intercept team operations, PA produced an evaluation that confirmed that the intercept teams were effective at detecting criminality, not just for minor offences but also for serious crimes.
With this success, the pilot was extended in June 2003 to a further 14 forces across England and Wales. Thus, less than a year after the pilot began, more than half the forces in England and Wales had significant ANPR intercept potential. During this second stage (Laser 2), PA developed an innovative funding arrangement that allowed forces to recover the costs of the intercept teams from the fines generated from the ANPR activity.
This assignment has demonstrated, in classic terms, how to develop and implement policy, from establishing an operational concept, proving its effectiveness and engaging stakeholders, through to proving the concept is scalable and results are sustainable. This was delivered through a collaborative approach between the Laser forces, ACPO, PSU and PA.
