African News Agency
The City’s safety and security directorate will invest R14 million in automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology in the coming months.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said yesterday the funding, secured in the annual adjustments budget would be used to retro-fit existing CCTV cameras with ANPR technology and install similar technology in City law enforcement vehicles.
He said the directorate first started experimenting with ANPR technology in 2010. Currently, five traffic vehicles had such installations.
The technology was also used at roadblocks where an ANPR camera was mounted on a tripod. The bus and minibus taxi (BMT) lane and average speed over distance (ASOD) camera systems also used ANPR technology.
The cameras had been used as part of Operation Reclaim and were programmed to identify outstanding warrants of arrest on a particular number plate; whether a motor vehicle had been suspended; whether there were mismatched number plates (plates that did not belong to that particular vehicle); and unlicensed and stolen vehicles.
The latest acquisition would see R8m being spent on ANPR hardware for vehicle installations and a further R6m for static installations alongside existing metro police-operated CCTV cameras. It was envisioned that about 100 CCTV cameras, or 25 percent of the department’s 436 cameras, would be retro-fitted with ANPR capabilities with these funds. Requests for additional funding would be submitted for the 2016/17 budget to extend the static and mobile roll-out.
“These investments are part of our drive towards a more intelligence-driven policing approach,” Smith said. “Residents are constantly calling for more visible policing, but I dare say invisible policing is the way of the future. This technology is a powerful force multiplier for law enforcement in that it provides real-time alerts. This greatly strengthens our investigative capabilities.”
The City had already partnered with more than a dozen private CCTV installations across the city that used licence plate recognition technology, known as the Licence Plate Recognition User Group.
The City was currently finalising a policy which would ensure inter-operability and create a city-wide database of suspicious vehicles and wanted vehicles that could be tracked by the private and City-owned cameras using ANPR technology – which the metro police would maintain – as well as allow the private networks to place cameras on City lighting poles.
“CCTV footage has already proven its worth in the fight against crime as it helps law enforcement agencies to respond immediately to incidents. It also assists with mapping crime hot spots.
The number plate recognition technology is the latest layer that we’re adding to our arsenal,” Smith said.