The Home Office has made £32.5 million capital funding available to the Police Service over a two-year period (2005-07) for the development of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR). This investment addresses the fight against serious and organised crime, terrorism, volume crime and road traffic offending.
The Home Office has commissioned an independent evaluation of the national roll out of ANPR that is due for publication shortly. The report covers a period when ANPR is being mainstreamed in all police forces within England and Wales. The evaluation is expected to show that benefits have accrued as forces gain experience of operating ANPR in conjunction with the National Intelligence Model to target the detection and prevention of crime. Evidence from the previous ‘Project Laser’ pilot evaluations concluded that officers involved in ANPR achieve more arrests and contribute more offences brought to justice than those involved in general policing.
The ANPR Evaluation Report is due for publication in July 2006 and will be circulated to ANPR stakeholders and a copy will be placed on the Home Office website. (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk)