Wiltshire residents asked to have their say on Automatic Number Plate Recognition
A national survey has been launched
Last updated 23rd Feb 2021
Wiltshire Police is urging people across the county to give feedback on Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR).
The National Police Chiefs Council has launched a survey, running for three weeks, allowing residents to have their say on the technology.
ANPR software is used by police forces across the UK to help detect, deter and disrupt offences - including organised crime groups and terrorists.
The cameras can read registration plates and alert officers if a vehicle is listed as stolen, or involved in crime - as well as tracking missing people.
Police cars are often equipped with the technology, with fixed ANPR cameras also placed in various locations.
WATCH: HOW ANPR WORKS
Inspector Adam Leakey from Wiltshire Police has told Greatest Hits Radio:
"ANPR is an investigative tool ... it's very much part of modern day policing in the same way that a witness may see an offence take place and we go and take a statement from them.
"There could be CCTV of the offence taking place and we can go and get that CCTV - so ANPR is another tool in the armoury, so to speak, to provide investigative lines of enquiry.
"When a crime takes place, our main objective is to protect that victim, prevent further offences and to try identify the person or people responsible.
"ANPR is that piece of equipment that enables us to achieve those key aims and anything that enables us to do that, in a lawful but efficient manner, protects the public".
Officers now want us to fill-out this survey, which asks questions around how ANPR is used and whether it benefits residents.