Cameras keep Criminals off Manchester Roads

Designed to keep criminals off our roads, Greater Manchester Police has introduced twelve permanent Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) sites in and around north Manchester.

A technological breakthrough, the new ANPR system allows the rapid reading and identification of number plates using fixed cameras around north Manchester. This will enable Greater Manchester Police to check vehicles of interest, such as stolen cars or those involved in crime.

A powerful crime fighting tool, the system has the capability to check 600,000 number plates every 24 hours.

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: "ANPR is unique in its ability to impact on crime at every level, from local volume crime through to cross border and organised crime and counter terrorism. These new fixed camera sites will bring enormous benefits to the police and aid us in protecting our communities.

"ANPR is an excellent intelligence led policing tool. The cameras that are now in place will provide police officers with an additional source of information during the vital early stages of major investigations and will also assist in our continued fight against terrorism."

The fixed sites use specialist cameras as an additional investigating tool to scan passing vehicle registrations entering a specific area and then check them against information stored in a variety of databases, including the Police National Computer, DVLA databases and local intelligence databases.