Police TV eye on cars (From Watford Observer)

Police TV eye on cars

4:12pm Wednesday 22nd March 2006

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A SCHEME to track criminals using vehicle recognition cameras is underway in St Albans city centre.

The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology will help police target vehicles associated with known offenders, stolen vehicles, or vehicles being used illegally.

The ANPR system is loaded with the details of vehicles that have been stolen, used in crime or used anti-socially, as well as those that are uninsured. Police stress the cameras are not used for speed enforcement.

The scheme, pioneered by Hertfordshire Police and St Albans District Council, won a substantial grant from the Home Office in early 2005.

Chief Superintendent Alison Roome-Gifford said: "The live use of ANPR in cameras around St Albans is part of a determined approach by St Albans District Council and local police to deny criminals the use of the road.

"It is a demonstration of how we can do more to identify and arrest criminals who are using vehicles to travel around the area and thereby make St Albans city and district a safer place to live, work and visit."

The CCTV control room in St Albans is linked directly to police headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, so that ANPR and CCTV can be monitored simultaneously.

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