ANPR Unit
Most criminals rely on vehicles to commit crime. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is a policing tool designed to make it far more difficult for them to use vehicles without being detected.
Durham Constabulary, in line with the National Road Policing Strategy have a fleet of vehicles fitted with ANPR systems and strategically positioned cameras on major thoroughfares with the aim of denying criminals the use of the roads within County Durham and Darlington.
ANPR consists of cameras linked to a computer. As a vehicle passes the ANPR equipment it recognises the number plate and checks it against a number of databases. If the number plate is matched, for example with a stolen car, the ANPR equipment will alert officers so that the car and its occupants can be stopped. The Durham Constabulary ANPR system is capable of reading in excess of 300,000 registration plates per day.
Only vehicles that are highlighted by enforcement agencies databases will be stopped, so law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear from ANPR operations.
Durham Constabulary is actively using this technology in its day to day policing with the aim of reducing crime and disorder and denying criminals use of the roads within County Durham and Darlington.
