MORE than 700 suspects were arrested in North Yorkshire last year thanks to the use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.
North Yorkshire Police has revealed the extent to which the kit assisted in its battle against crimes including drug dealing, theft and kidnap.
It said ANPR had helped it safeguard 36 vulnerable people as well as directly leading to the arrest of 727 suspects.
It said that in April, it helped officers tackle county lines drug dealing in the Scarborough and Filey area and, in July, it led to a car linked to the kidnap of two children, which was passing through North Yorkshire, being located and stopped, and three occupants arrested.
In August, it enabled police to intercept a vehicle on the A64 and recover a taser-type weapon, a canister of CS gas, a knife and suspected drugs paraphernalia and, in December, four people who left the McArthurGlen designer outlet in York with numerous bags of suspected stolen goods were intercepted as their vehicle travelled out of York, and charged with seven counts of theft each.
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