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DRIVERS ON CAMERA ALL DAY, EVERY DAY
Clevedon Mercury 18 October 2007
Police have a network of spy cameras hidden across Avon and Somerset filming motorists 24 hours a day.
There are a dozen Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras in mystery locations. Other Government agencies also operate hidden cameras, police have confirmed.
They are designed to crack down on uninsured drivers, road tax evasion and stolen cars, but will also monitor millions of law-abiding drivers - and the captured footage is saved by police for up to two years.
Secret footage captured by these cameras, which have been recording for more than a year already, is monitored constantly by a team of officers at police headquarters in Portishead.
Police officials refused to reveal the location of the unmarked cameras, which do not have to have warning signs like speed cameras.
However, Inspector Mike Parr, from Avon and Somerset police's tactical crime unit, admitted there was one permanently watching over the Second Severn Crossing.
He said: "ANPR is a very effective tool. They are very small cameras which we have covertly deployed at a number of sites around the force area.
"The public doesn't know they are there. And unlike speed cameras, we don't have to give any warning that these cameras are operating.”
The cameras are hidden and have no markings on at all. In fact, in most locations they will be very hard to spot.
"The success of ANPR fixed camera sites suggests we will see more of them in the near future."
ANPR technology works by reading a vehicle's number plate and instantly cross- checking it against a range of databases held by the police and DVLA.
However, it is not just used for detecting motorists wanted for driving offences. It has also been used to track bail bandits and known drug dealers.
In the past 12 months, ANPR cameras have led to more than 600 motorists being arrested for various offences, included being in possession of drugs and carrying offensive weapons in their vehicles, police confirmed.
But law-abiding motorists are also unwittingly being recorded, and their movements stored on police files.
Association of British Drivers spokesman Paul Biggs said: "We are already the most spied on country in the world. This is a continuing shift towards a Big Brother society.
"We have no problem with the system being used to track criminals and motorists who shouldn't be on our roads, but the vast majority of us are law abiding - what gives the police the right to hold the data on them?"
Police spokesman Wayne Baker said: "We have about a dozen fixed ANPR locations in Avon and Somerset.
"There are further fixed cameras located in other areas which are run by other agencies and organisations.
"Data is retained for up to two years, as per Association of Chief Police Officers' national guidelines.
"ANPR has been hugely successful in preventing criminals using roads in Avon and Somerset."
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