Crime-fighting tool is a first for Ryedale (From Gazette & Herald)

Crime-fighting tool is a first for Ryedale

POLICE in Ryedale have hailed a new crime-fighting tool that will help to bring dangerous lawbreakers to justice.

Officers at the Malton-based road policing group have just taken delivery of their first dedicated police car equipped with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.

Police chiefs say the new car can be "as good as a dozen officers".

The vehicle, which arrived just in time for Christmas, will now be on Ryedale's roads 24-hours-a-day.

The ANPR system reads and records the number plates of passing cars, and compares them to the police's national database.

If the vehicle is found to be uninsured, for example, officers are alerted, and the suspicious vehicle can be pulled over.

North Yorkshire Police already operate mobile ANPR teams in the county, but the latest car is Ryedale's first.

In 2005, ANPR-equipped cars identified more than 300 suspicious vehicles in Hambleton, Ryedale and Scarborough alone.

Sgt Paul Stephenson, of Ryedale's Malton-based road policing group, said he expected that number to be far higher this year, as the Ryedale car becomes operational and the force rolls out more and more ANPR vehicles.

The system also works in darkness, and can detect number plates no matter how fast the target is travelling.

Sgt Stephenson said: "While our car is out on the road it is as good as a dozen police officers. You can only go out with so much information in your head, so until now we have had to rely on instinct. Now, the ANPR car is connected to the entire police database.

"We have only had the car for less than a fortnight, but it is working well, and its computers are being updated every day. Our policy is that it should be on the road 24-hours-a-day, and it is sure to make a massive difference.

"Some people are talking about Big Brother, but ANPR is nothing like that - it's a tool for bringing in criminals, people who shouldn't be on the roads. People who drive uninsured and are involved in crashes cause enormous problems for law-abiding drivers."

Updated: 15:54 Wednesday, January 11, 2006