Contents
Report 5 of the 2 December 2005 meeting of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee, and outlines MPS Automatic Number Plate Recognition activity carried out by the Traffic Operational Command Unit.
Warning: This is archived material and may be out of date. The Metropolitan Police Authority has been replaced by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC).
See the MOPC website for further information.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) activity – update report
Report: 5
Date: 2 December 2005
By: Commissioner
Summary
This report outlines Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) ANPR activity carried out by the Traffic Operational Command Unit (OCU). It was requested at the MPA Full Authority Meeting of 28 April 2005.
A. Recommendations
That the report be noted.
B. Supporting information
1. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) reads vehicle registration marks (VRMs) and compares them against a series of databases, for example Police National Computer, Driver Vehicle Licence Authority (DVLA) and local hot-lists. If a match occurs, appropriate police action by way of interception, or further intelligence gathering can be taken.
2. Assistant Commissioner Steve House has taken the strategic lead for ANPR throughout the MPS, to provide a framework to enable corporate policies and strategic direction across all MPS business groups. The Metropolitan Police Service uses ANPR in support of its aims to prevent and detect terrorism, serious crime, volume crime, and illegal use of London’s roads.
3. The Traffic OCU provides the primary interception capability on behalf of the MPS for serious and volume crime, and illegal use of the roads. The OCU continues to operate ANPR equipped patrol vehicles 24 hours a day and bespoke ANPR intercept teams. The latter work with officers from boroughs or other parts of Central Operations (Firearms and/or the Territorial Support Group) on operations every day of the week.
4. On 17 October 2005, the ANPR intercept teams developed into four regionally based teams within Traffic OCU, whereas previously secondees had staffed them. Their primary role will continue to be denying criminals use of the roads, deployed through the ‘Together’ Tasking process to address Service and local crime problems as well as supporting the Mayor’s Road Safety Plan by tackling persistent offenders/evaders and unregistered vehicles.
5. MPS databases developed to support these operations include vehicles involved in gun crime, other serious crime, disqualified and uninsured drivers, camera evaders, cloned vehicles, no excise licence, no insurance, vehicles of interest from surrounding forces and people wanted on warrant.
6. Since 12 September, the ANPR intercept teams have also committed to partnership working with Transport for London on a series of daily operations to identify and take action against vehicles that are incorrectly registered with the DVLA, displaying false, copied or stolen number plates, or are untaxed, unroadworthy, uninsured or being driven by disqualified motorists.
7. New legislation as of 6 July gives police the power to seize a motor vehicle being driven without a driving licence or insurance. Traffic ANPR intercept teams have led on the implementation of this new power. By October, 272 vehicles had been seized, of which 177 were restored, 58 scrapped and 9 sent for auction.
8. Half year performance results for ANPR intercept teams and patrol cars have increased by 25% from eight arrests per 100 vehicles stopped last year to ten this year. The national average is 7.5. The detailed breakdown of traffic activity is:
| Traffic ANPR activity | |
|---|---|
| 1672 arrests, including: | |
| 170 | for robbery |
| 110 | for auto crime, (68 lost or stolen vehicles recovered). |
| 129 | for drug related offences |
| 118 | wanted on warrant |
| 318 | for other crime |
| 197 | for driving offences (disqualified driving, drink/drive etc) |
| 2166 | Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) Endorsable |
| 1262 | FPN Non Endorsable |
| 1545 | Summons |
| 1053 | CLE2/8 (DVLA not notified of current keeper details) |
9. A number of Borough OCUs have access to partnership funded ANPR enabled Closed Circuit Television cameras, which are used as a tactic for local operations to detect or deter crime. The outcomes of these are not held centrally. However, a new performance regime will capture their use by December. This will ensure the MPS maximises the use of this technology.
C. Race and equality impact
1. Stops by police as a consequence of ANPR activations are technology driven. The below table represents the self-defined ethnicity of occupants of vehicles stopped by the intercept teams as a result of ANPR activations between 1 April 2005 and 3 October 2005.
| Self Defined Classification of Ethnic Identity | Total | % |
|---|---|---|
| White | ||
| White British | 1826 | 35% |
| White Irish | 94 | 2% |
| Any other white background | 338 | 7% |
| Mixed | ||
| White & Black Caribbean | 37 | 1% |
| White & Black African | 13 | 0% |
| White & Asian | 5 | 0% |
| Any other mixed Background | 100 | 2% |
| Asian | ||
| Asian - Indian | 236 | 5% |
| Asian - Pakistani | 162 | 3% |
| Asian - Bangladeshi | 40 | 1% |
| Any other Asian background | 160 | 3% |
| Black | ||
| Black - Caribbean | 1136 | 23% |
| Black African | 616 | 12% |
| Any other black background | 104 | 2% |
| Other | ||
| Chinese | 26 | 1% |
| Any other | 72 | 1% |
| Not Stated | 53 | 1% |
| Total | 5018 | 100% |
D. Financial implications
The operational cost of the ANPR teams is fully funded by the Traffic OCU budget.
E. Background papers
None
F. Contact details
Report author: Commander Hussain
For more information contact:
MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18
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