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Police network tracks vehicles

geezEr | 22.11.2005 06:54 | Technology

The BBC has reported that West Yorkshire police have acknowledged the use of a CCTV tracking network in the apprehension of the suspect killers of WPC Beshenivsky.

A network of CCTV cameras linked to a database of registration numbers automatically alerted officers to the getaway vehicle's route across Bradford.

When a car is entered on the system it will 'ping' whenever it passes one of the CCTV cameras which makes it a lot easier to track than waiting for visual identification to be confirmed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/4455918.stm

geezEr

Additions

Register article...

22.11.2005 09:17

The Register carried this last week:

Gatso 2: rollout of UK's '24x7 vehicle movement database' begins

A "24x7 national vehicle movement database" that logs everything on the UK's roads and retains the data for at least two years is now being built, according to an Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) strategy document leaked to the Sunday Times. The system, which will use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), and will be overseen from a control centre in Hendon, London, is a sort of 'Gatso 2' network, extending. enhancing and linking existing CCTV, ANPR and speedcam systems and databases.

The control centre is intended to go live in April of next year, and is intended to be processing 50 million number plates a day by year end....

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/15/vehicle_movement_database/

Chris

Comments

Hide the following 7 comments

Difficult one to stop

22.11.2005 09:14

Lets see, a screwdriver and a forged plate (or one taken from a scrapyard or some poor suckers car)..... confusion!

Bob

Before too much fuss is made

22.11.2005 12:14

Before too many people start shouting about their rights let's remember why this info is now in the public domain - because it was released to the press to explain how the information provided led to the arrest of a number of men who are accused of robbing at gunpoint a travel agency and subsequently are alleged to have shot and killed an unarmed police woman.

Sam

Timed release of information

22.11.2005 12:34

As soon as I saw this aspect of last night's news programmes, it became obvious that the only way in which this information could be drip-leaked to the public, without raising 'Big Brother'-style totally irrational fears of course, was to link it with the death of a police officer. No right-minded citizen (or totally irrational tabloid drooler) could then possibly complain.

Non?

anarchoteapot

Oui

22.11.2005 17:32

They have cameras to record your number plate in the cats eyes of some, soon to be all, motorways. Like the copper said, it is the biggest aid to state control since DNA testing came along, as serious as RFID but it's been slipped under our radar by clever PR.
There are companies that sell illegal-to-use reflective number plates, but that is just stupid as they'll pull you straight away. And you can use fake number plates but the system is linked up to the DVLA so you will risk getting pulled for that.

Of course smart criminals won't get caught by this - they will hijack cars and hold the passengers hostage until after the crime, but it will nab the unplanned crimes and it will be used for levels of political surviellance undreamt of outside Mao's China.

Danny

Quick tip

22.11.2005 18:43

The only problem i can see with this legislation is if information regarding people's driving habits, car model, destination, speed etc. was released to a commercial environment. I can almost imagine it.

"our records indicate your car is over 10 years old. how about a low finance upgrade to a newer model?"

Seems far fetched, but i already get text messages telling me my mobile phone is old.

I welcome using technology to apprehend criminals and improve effeciency, but we've got to be certain that these new measures won't be funded by private agencies (which will always want something in return). Far fetched maybe, but the private sector is already worming it's way into health and education.

Anyway, quick tip: hairspray on the number plates makes them reflective, and therefore harder to capture.

James

The serious criminals will soon be one step ahead, again

22.11.2005 21:35

Once again, we trade an essential liberty for a little temporary security.

Now that the cat's out of the bag, the serious criminals will already be taking it into account for their next outings, while the powers that be happily keep tabs on the rest of us going about our private business.

Can we assume that if it is shown that this scheme makes no significant difference in deterring or solving serious crime over the next few years, that it will be withdrawn and the money saved diverted to more useful projects or even refunded to the taxpayer?

Zorro