Police use ANPR to make arrest following assault (From Watford Observer)

Police make arrest following assault in West Watford

4:02pm Monday 30th July 2012 in News By Mike Wright, Chief Reporter

Two men were arrested shortly after an alleged assault in Watford after a car registration plate was picked up on a police camera.

A man in his 20s was left injured following an incident in Tolpits Lane, West Watford last Tuesday.

The victim, from Watford, sustained minor injuries that needed hospital treatment and he was released later that day.

A witness was able to provide police with the registration details of a vehicle, in which the suspects left in and it was quickly picked up by an automatic number plate recognition camera in the Pinner Road area.

Police followed the vehicle and stopped it close to Chalk Hill.

The two men, aged 18 and 21 from Watford, were arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and bailed to return to Watford Police Station on September 3.

Inspector Andy Piper said: "ANPR is an excellent deterrent to all kinds of crime, not just motoring offences. ANPR targets criminals, not law-abiding motorists. Using this system we are able to track and stop vehicles we know or believe to be involved in criminal activity.

"Operation Sentinel has been running in Hertfordshire since 2009 and has been extremely successful in using ANPR cameras to stop and check high volumes of vehicles for various offences. It is also making Hertfordshire’s roads a no-go area for criminals coming into the county."

Any witnesses to the incident are asked to contact PC Paula Mowbray on the non-emergency number 101, citing crime reference number C3/12/788.