The London borough of Redbridge, working with the Metropolitan Police, has become the first local authority in the UK to deploy mobile automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to help tackle local crime.
Using vehicle-based CCTV and computer technology from Civica, ANPR software is integrated with CCTV cameras, mobile communications and access to police and other agency databases.

The Cobra vehicle gives Redbridge the freedom and flexibility to drive its cameras to any location in the borough, in order to maintain public order and prevent crime.

There are currently 236 fixed and removable CCTV cameras located across the borough, which, although providing images of incidents within their immediate vicinity, are limited in coverage if perpetrators move outside their range. Cobra has a hydraulic mast, which can be raised to a height of six metres, while cameras on the mast are controlled by officers who can view and record activity within several hundred metres' radius of the vehicle.

As well as tackling crime in the borough, the cameras are also used for crowd safety purposes.

Redbridge borough has a close working relationship with the police and by providing them access to the ANPR solution, the borough anticipates the relationship will be further strengthened as both organisations work together to reduce crime.

Redbridge also plans to install a real-time communication facility within the vehicle in order to assist with any emergency response activities. Images captured by the cameras at the scene of an incident can then be instantly relayed to a control room so that decisions regarding response can be made based on accurate, real time information.

Source

Security Installer