Northern Ireland police service improves road cameras

Police service spends some of £12.9m budget on automatic number plate recognition cameras

Northern Ireland's police service has invested in automatic number plate recognition cameras

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) intends to spend a proportion of its £12.9m budget from government security funding on automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.

The £12.9m in funding will be used for ANPR infrastructure improvement over the next 5 years.

“The recent investment allows us to increase the capability of our existing system which will lead to increased road and community safety,” a PSNI spokesperson told Computing.

“Advancements in technology support our ability to deliver a safer, more peaceful and confident Northern Ireland.“

In its ANPR policy directive, police service claims that ANPR is a cost-efficient policing tool that will improve the ability of PSNI to enforce the law, prevent crime and detect offenders.

“It will enable the effective deployment of resources based on intelligence and will be part of the PSNI’s strategy for a safer Northern Ireland for its residents, visitors and business communities,” the directive explained.

Force gets Blackberries

Meanwhile, the Police Service will be providing front line response and road policing officers with over 4,000 handheld “Mobile Data Terminals”, or Blackberry smartphones, over the next 12 months.

The drive is to ensure that officers are spending more time out of stations allowing more personal, professional and protective policing to take place.

"No one wants to see officers spending additional hours in stations completing forms,” said chief superintendent Michael Skuce.

“This detracts from their visibility in communities. The introduction of Blackberry devices to constables in response and road policing will reduce operational officer administration within Police Stations and in the process enhance efficiency.”