Cameras used to detect lockdown rule breakers
Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras help police fight crime, but what do you think about being filmed?
Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology is being used to help police forces identify lockdown rulebreakers, but there are concerns that the use of the technology results in a misuse of information.
The police force in Devon and Cornwall are making use of cameras to ensure only essential journeys are made.
Roadside static cameras across the area are being used and every officer in the force can access an ANPR app on their devices, allowing them to view live information about passing vehicles.
As the use of ANPR cameras increases, there are worries that they are being used excessively, so police forces want to hear what you think about them.
What is ANPR?
ANPR works by capturing images of a car's number plate. Live locations can then be shared with police officers, to help them track vehicles which may be involved with crime.
Information provided by ANPR is normally used to find stolen vehicles, missing people and suspected criminals.
The technology was used in a recent case to jail two drug smugglers who were discovered after the jet ski they were escaping on ran out of fuel.
Using ANPR to catch lockdown rule breakers
The number of fines issued in England and Wales during the third national lockdown has risen by a third.
Speaking on the risks of spreading the more transmissible variants of Covid-19, police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, Alison Hernandez, said: I welcome the force’s use of ANPR to monitor vehicle movements and make sure the only journeys being made here are essential ones.
“Using this technology helps us see where certain vehicles have come from and allows officers to further investigate their reasons for travel.”
Police want the public's opinion
Now police forces in England, Scotland and Wales want the public's opinion on the use of ANPR technology.
ANPR technology generates mixed opinion among the population. While some recognise its contribution to limiting criminal activity, others have labelled the installation of cameras "draconian" measure.
You can share your opinion by filling in this short survey, conducted by the National Police Chiefs Council.
Here's some of the most bizarre excuses given for breaking the lockdown rules:
"We've been bored"
A large group of University students in Lancashire threw an illegal house party because they were "bored" and wanted "to have fun." When police told the host they would receive a fixed penalty notice, they responded: "How do you expect a 20-year-old girl to pay a £10,000 fine?" Police replied: "The rules are in place to stop people getting infected, to stop the disease being spread around everyone and people stop dying, that's the point. But it's ok, you have your party, that's why there's a fine."
"It's my Birthday"
A party host in Swindon who told police that it was his Birthday was fined after throwing a bash for 23 people. Guests also received fines, some having travelled up to 143 miles to attend.
"To see the cliffs in wet weather"
Three people received fines after travelling 160 miles from Somerset to Land's End to "see the cliffs in wet weather."
Illegal haircuts
A group of men in Amesbury will receive fixed penalty notices after three of them were discovered having their hair cut by a fourth man at a residential property.
Meanwhile, a Newcastle footballer was fined after sharing a photo of himself getting a haircut in a hairdresser's on social media.
A very expensive trip to the chippy...
Norfolk Police fined one man who travelled 64 miles from Suffolk to Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast for a fish supper!
A McDonald's drive-thru from a town without a McDonald's
A man was fined £200 after claiming he had driven 100 miles from Luton to Devizes in Wiltshire for a McDonald's drive thru, despite the fact the town doesn't even have a McDonald's!
"Buying cannabis"
"Buying cannabis" was the excuse cited by one man who made a 45-minute train journey from Surbiton (Greater London) to Guildford (Surrey), for which he received a £200 fine.
Didn't know there was a pandemic
A group of party-organisers in Basingstoke shocked Hampshire police when they claimed that they didn't realise there was a global pandemic because they "never watch the news."
80 miles for a pair of headphones
Two men travelled from London to Hove, they said it was to buy a pair of headphones! Probably easier to order them online next time...
"I get regular Covid checks through work"
One party-goer in Plymouth told officers that they thought it was fine to attend a gathering because they receive "regular Covid checks through work" which had "all been negative to date."
150 miles to see a Sea Fort
Three men were given fines after driving from Staffordshire to Southend to try and get to the Red Sands Sea Fort in Whitstable. They also had to be rescued.
Filming a vlog
Youtubers filming for a vlog were issued with £200 fines for travelling from Leeds to Lincolnshire.
Bird watching
Five bird watchers were fined after they travelled to Exmouth after sightings of a rare mockingbird were reported on social media.
Now read:
Here's when YOU can expect to receive the Covid-19 vaccine
Scotland starts reopening schools from Monday