TWENTY-FIRST century technology has made it easier than ever to capture and process photos and videos, whether it’s through our mobile phones, digital cameras, dash-cams or even drones.

The police harness this technology and put it to good use to make our communities safer. One of the ways we do this is through the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras (ANPR).

These cameras read the number plates of passing vehicles and then instantly tell us if that vehicle has any links to criminal activity, links to an ongoing investigation, or whether it’s linked to a wanted person or a vulnerable or missing person.

It does this by comparing the registration number against vehicles of interest that are known to the police. It also tells us if a vehicle is uninsured or untaxed.

ANPR is used by the police to help catch criminals, prevent crime, find vulnerable and missing people, and to provide evidence in criminal prosecutions.

Although North Yorkshire has one of the lowest crime rates in the country, it’s one of the largest policing areas, has borders with seven other counties – some of them with very high crime rates – and attracts travelling criminals from these areas. ANPR is an important and highly effective way to help us protect North Yorkshire.

For example, we received a call from another police force to say a vehicle believed to be linked to drug dealing and a suspect wanted on suspicion of supplying class A drugs was heading towards North Yorkshire.

This information was passed to officers on patrol who then received a notification through our ANPR system confirming the vehicle had entered North Yorkshire. Officers located the vehicle and stopped it.

On searching the car, they found tens of thousands of pounds in cash. The occupant of the car was arrested, the cash seized and both handed into the custody of the original police force to enable them to progress their investigation.

In another case, a call was received from another police force that a car was believed to be heading to a nearby force area but may pass through North Yorkshire to get there. The vehicle was flagged up as being linked to suspects who were believed to have kidnapped two children. Thanks to ANPR and air support from the National Police Air Service, the vehicle was located and stopped in North Yorkshire and three occupants arrested. They were handed into the custody of the originating force.

Three men were arrested on suspicion of drug supply after a vehicle triggered an alert as it entered the Craven area. Officers intercepted the vehicle, found 70 wraps of suspected class A drugs and arrested the men who are currently under investigation.

We also use ANPR to help us find missing and vulnerable people. It can give us a reliable indication that a vehicle may have travelled to a certain area of the country, enabling us to concentrate our resources in that area, increasing the chances of finding the missing person.

For example, recently we were able to find a suicidal man after his friend rang us with concerns for his welfare. We were given the registration number of his car and were able to trace its location using ANPR.

Local officers were then sent to the area, found his car and the man, and took him to a place of safety where he received help from mental health professionals.

In a similar case, police were called after a woman became concerned for her husband’s safety after he left in his vehicle which he had poured petrol inside. The car was found thanks to ANPR and officers took the man to a place of safety enabling him to get the help he needed.

ANPR is also used as evidence in criminal trials.

It can demonstrate a vehicle’s movements to help support criminal charges.

The force uses different types of ANPR cameras, including in-car cameras, moveable cameras to respond to crime rates in a given area, static cameras on certain roads, safety camera vans and distributed information to officers around the force through the ANPR Hub, based in Fulford.