First ANPR car on the road
Unauthorised drivers in the Yarra Ranges will find it much harder to flout the law with the addition of a new highway patrol car equipped with Victoria Police’s new automatic number plate recognition (ANPR).
The technology allows police to detect suspended, disqualified or unlicensed drivers as well as unregistered and stolen vehicles and stolen number plates.
The car is one of 221 ANPR units being deployed across the state over the next two years.
Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol officers started patrols in the car last Friday 6 September.
It detected 270 vehicles of interest in its first three days.
Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol Sergeant David McIlfatrick said the car was able to scan number plates and match them against a database of vehicles of interest.
“It’s able to scan thousands of number plates per shift which we wouldn’t ordinarily be able to do,” he said.
The cars are also fitted with in-car video to record audio and visual evidence that can be used in court.
Sgt McIlfatrick said it was hoped that public awareness of the video system would enhance officer safety by deterring and de-escalating potential incidents.
