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GOVERNMENT AND POLICE LAUNCH NEW CRIME-FIGHTING
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VICTORIA – British Columbia is the first province in
Canada to use a new crime-fighting technology, Automatic Licence Plate
Recognition (ALPR), to target both traffic violators and stolen vehicles,
Solicitor General John Les announced today.
“We are taking back B.C. roads
with this phenomenal technology,” said Les. “We’re targeting car thieves and
prohibited drivers by using interactive, high-tech solutions, combined
with criminal analysis techniques. It’s all part of the future of policing in
B.C.”
ALPR is a camera and computer database system. Police are assisted by
cameras mounted in their cars that capture images of licence plates on vehicles
on public highways. The ALPR system reads the licence plate and instantly
compares it against the data base in the onboard computer. The data base
includes information associated with stolen vehicles and uninsured, unlicensed
and prohibited drivers. The data collected onboard is transferred daily to a
secure server at the RCMP Federal Operations Building. If the license plate
does not show a violation, the image will be automatically purged from the
computer system after three months. If the licence plate shows a violation, the
image is retained by police for two years as required by federal law. As an
RCMP unit, IMPACT falls under federal privacy laws and the federal privacy
commissioner has reviewed the technology. The provincial privacy commissioner
has also been briefed on the ALPR project.
The Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team (IMPACT) ran a
short-term pilot project where several ALPR-equipped police
vehicles tested the equipment in order to gather baseline data. Police are
working with the International Centre for Urban Research Studies (ICURS) at
Simon Fraser University and the University
College of the Fraser Valley who are providing
data analysis for the project.
“Early results of the pilot project are
amazing,” said Les. “In one hour, a police vehicle captured images of 600
plates and on average got one hit for every 60 plates.” Les added that nine per
cent of those hits were associated with a stolen vehicle, 7 per cent associated
to a prohibited driver, 25 per cent of the hits were associated with an
unlicensed or uninsured vehicle and 59 per cent of hits were associated with an
unlicensed driver.
RCMP
Assistant Commissioner Gary Bass says the operational stage of the pilot study
begins this week. ALPR units are being deployed throughout the Lower Mainland
in strategic locations based on crime analysis trends. The ALPR equipped
vehicles are working with police resources from IMPACT, the Integrated Road
Safety Units, the Lower Mainland Traffic Division, and other police agencies.
“Stolen
vehicles and unsafe drivers identified by ALPR units will be targeted and when
appropriate, charges will be recommended,” said Bass.
Air
One, B.C.’s first dedicated, fully equipped traffic safety helicopter, which
was purchased by government with funding from ICBC, will play a significant
role in the apprehension of violators identified by ALPR. Air One can carry out
air surveillance and track the vehicle to a safe location where ground units
can apprehend.
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Audio clips of Solicitor General John Les talking about ALPR are available at: www.mediaroom.gov.bc.ca//DisplayEventDetails.aspx?eventId=330
To view a video about ALPR, please go to: www.baitcar.com
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contact: |
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General 250 356-6961 |
OIC, IMPACT 604 598-4454 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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