School Run

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Paddy Pantsdown
Posts: 204
Joined: 1 Oct 2004 10:04
Location: Venner Road

Post by Paddy Pantsdown »

ANPR = Automatic Number Plate Recognition. Everybody works from the DVLA (yep I know they have renamed it to something less memorable). When ANPR or even a manual system interact with then it does not work as a system. If it is marked as stolen but the enquirer only wants to send you a parking ticket - they ignore the warning and blindly send you a fine with threats even though they know it was probably incurred by someone the 'keeper' is unaware of. When challenged they say 'nothing to do with us' which is a nonsense since parking tickets was a police function delegated to local authorities for 'greater effiency'. Collecting fines maybe. Stopping serious crime, definitely not.

The bus lane people brand you an anti-social criminal even if the number plate is on a very different vehicle and colour from the registered vehicle. When politely asked to recheck DVLA and go after the real criminal they say "not our job mate". Oh and if you don't spend time proving it wasn't you then you get the usual threats. Proving negatives is notoriously difficult. I was lucky they got it so wrong but still an totally unnecessary waste of both my time and public money, which is I guess is partly mine too.

Let's not get to the congestion charge people because we must be boring everybody else off this thread. The ANPR/automatic penalty system will, by definition, only catch people who have legally UK registered vehicles (whether innocent of more minor crimes or not). It does not address real criminal deception. You and I both know how we could exploit that if we wanted to speed, use bus lanes, avoid congestion charges or be part of professionally organised crime or terrorism.

Which goes back to my original point of traffic police removing dangerous and anti-social drivers from the roads rather than a set of single minded revenue/tax generating ANPR/DVLA substitutes with disturbing anti-liberty overtones.

I think we should end this here before I get signed up as a Daily Mail columnist.

PP
bensonby
Posts: 1656
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Post by bensonby »

yes, as I said, you are talking about civil enforcement agencies enforcing civil "penalties" it's not their job to enforce or detect crime. Indeed, the way they use it anyway would make it very difficult in the use or detection of a crime would lend itself to little use. Notwithstanding that their "hit" results and camera images can be seized by the police if needed.

ANPR as a crimefighting tool by the police is invaluable and is used to great effect.

As for making civil claims by these other organisation then they too can use it effectively for their ends. If their system mistakenly identifies someone then an induvidual can quite simply challenge them.

However, blanketly troucing the concept and technology of ANPR is just plan ignorant. ANPR doesn't just "talk" to the DVLA it's linked into the PNC aswell. Indeed, I don't think "interest markers" (stolen vehicles et al. are even on teh DVLA database, those markers are from PNC I believe)
bensonby
Posts: 1656
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Post by bensonby »

further to the above:

if you were to get rid of ANPR what would you have police officers doing? Manually typing in numberplates wherever they went on the off chance that a vehicle might be stolen or uninsured? (the information is already out there) or have them looking out for other stuff / otherwise getting on with their jobs and then just being notified if they drive past a vehicle of interest?

Of course, not all police cars have ANPR cameras, but to take it away would basically mean that far fewer uninsured cars, far fewer vehicles used in crime and so on would be stopped/seized and/or the drivers arrested.

You clearly have little idea of how the police work or how cars of interest are listed on the PNC. If you were stopped because your numberplate had been cloned its not as if you would immediately be penalised somehow or have your vehicle seized/accused of anything.

I'm not about to go into operational information as to how ANPR is implemented but rubbish an invaluable tool is ignorant. Certainly, like any tool it can be used inefficiently, but it is an invaluable piece of kit that can, and has, led to lots of good disruption amongst criminals and their vehicles.
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