• Home /
• Statewatch Database /
• Police: digital motorway surveillance

Police: digital motorway surveillance

01 January 1991

Police: digital motorway surveillance

A secret plan called the þlicense plate recognition systemþ has
been exposed which will allow for a round-the-clock monitoring
of motorways and border crossings by electronic cameras hooked
up to computers with pattern recognition software. The system,
once in operation, would be able to identify the license plates
of passing cars within seconds and check this information against
central computer data banks holding data on stolen vehicles, tax
avoiders and suspected criminals. The technology will be
developed by a consortium of four companies headed by Technet BV
in Eindhoven. The project is partially funded by a 400,000
guilders grant from the European Fund for Regional Development.
The Registration Chamber does not expect them to violate any
privacy laws. The police have admitted they are working on a
digital car recognition system to be used on motorways, but
refuse to provide further details.

Police contempt

Police who prevented an accused's solicitor from seeing potential
alibi witnesses were in contempt of court, ruled the High Court
in July. The accused was charged with murder and told his
solicitor that he had spent the night in a doorway in central
London with two travellers. In an attempt to trace the two alibi
witnesses, the solicitor employed an inquiry agent to go round
central London's travellers with a photograph of him to see if
any remembered him. Police investigating the murder wanted to
hold an identity parade and told the solicitor that she could be
committing the offence of obstructing them in the execution of
their duty if she went ahead. But the High Court ruled that the
police had no right to prevent the solicitors from approaching
potential witnesses and so were in contempt of court when they
tried to do so by threatening her with criminal charges.
Connolly v Dale, Independent 27.7.95.