A murder suspect was among 59 people arrested by Kent Police recently as a result of a new ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) network .
The ANPR covers the county’s roads and ports of Dover and Folkestone. The system has seen more than 80,000 alerts against the police’s target list and a total of 59 on-the-spot arrests including disqualified drivers and other known offenders. Some 25 cameras at 17 sites across Canterbury, Gravesend and Dartford have been installed, on an expanding network. The major arterial roads across the northern half of the county will be under ANPR surveillance by April 2006. Working with fibre-optic networks firm BT redcare, ANPR product firm Civica and the local authorities, Kent Police have spent the last three years testing and developing the system, which has tracked 20 million number plates since April 2005. BT redcare provided the first cameras in Canterbury and have since provided cabling and multi-channel functionality to council owned CCTV cameras. Sgt Keith Waymont, ANPR Installation Project Manager for Kent Police, said: "In addition to the real-time alerting that we get, the system provides an enormous amount of intelligence information from which we can determine how, when and where to target our resources to give the best effect and best value to the public. By analysing the data it is possible to establish patterns of vehicle usage by certain elements of the criminal fraternity so that appropriate action can be taken either to prevent crimes from taking place or to catch those involved more efficiently. Our eventual plans are to have ANPR cameras strategically located right across the county."
To find out more about ANPR, contact [email protected]
