Gwent Police made four arrests and seized two vehicles during an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) national day of action last Friday (March 12th, 2010). The operation took place in Gwent from 7am on Friday until 5am on Saturday morning ( March 13th, 2010)
ANPR devices are used by police around the UK to detect and remove serious criminals, unsafe vehicles and unsafe drivers from our roads. The national day of action was organized by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
ANPR is used to check a number of police related databases and any vehicles of interest are checked by officers.
The four arrests in Gwent include a 42 year old man from Blaenavon arrested on suspicion of driving with excess alcohol; a 22 year old man from Ebbw Vale arrested on suspicion of theft; a 30 year old woman from Tredegar on suspicion of possession of a Class B drug and 19 year old man from Rhymney arrested on suspicion of possession of a Class B drug. Two cars were seized for not having adequate insurance. Seven cars were stopped for minor traffic offences and dealt with by way of a warning or fixed penalty notice.
Andy Elliot, ANPR Sergeant, Gwent Police said:
“We use ANPR 24 hours a day and seven days a week. ANPR is an outstanding tool in making Gwent safer and getting criminals off the road. It is a particularly efficient way of targetting offenders: all criminals use the roads and if we can deny them the use of the roads, we stand a good chance of preventing and detecting crime.”
