A man who stole firewood collected for sale by two children has met them to apologise for his actions.

The 61-year-old enlisted the help of his grandson in stealing two bags of kindling from outside a house in Bishopsbourne, near Canterbury, on Saturday 18 October.

CCTV footage of the scene showed the man driving away in a red Peugeot 407, which was later spotted by ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) cameras in Folkestone and tracked down to an address in Ash.

He voluntarily attended Canterbury police station on 18 November and admitted to stealing the wood, which was valued at £8.

“Following a discussion with the children’s parents, it was agreed that the man should make amends by meeting the family to apologise.
The children had collected, chopped and bagged the wood and planned to sell it for some pocket money. The man who took it clearly did not consider their feelings but has now accepted what he did was wrong. As well as apologising to the family, he also agreed to pay the children £20 each as a way of making amends for his actions.”

– SERGEANT MARTIN WILLIAMS

Source: ITV

Five men and two women have been sentenced to a total of more than 16 years in prison after conspiring to target elderly people at supermarkets across Kent.The criminals, all from the Dagenham area, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to commit fraud after elderly people were conned out of thousands of pounds.

The group of fraudsters obtained Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) from the victims by ‘shoulder surfing’ at supermarket checkouts or cash machines. Typically, they would watch the victim input their PIN, then distract them in a car park using techniques such as asking for directions to the local hospital in order to steal the victim’s bank cards while distracted. Between January and March 2014 offences were reported in Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Maidstone, Strood, Rainham, Gillingham, Sittingbourne, Whitstable, Hawkinge, Folkestone and Hythe. All 12 victims were elderly people, with the eldest being 88 years-old.

Using store CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology (ANPR), detectives carried out extensive research and identified a Ford Focus and a Volkswagen Passat they believed were involved in the offences. On March 27, a day when three separate offences occurred in Kent, the two vehicles were located and stopped by Kent Police officers in Ilford in East London. The cars were searched and bank cards were found concealed behind a headlight compartment in one of the cars. The group was linked to a thirteenth offence, which occurred in Hertfordshire on March 26 2014. In all, their victims were defrauded out of more than £3,000. A member of the gang later admitted to further offences which had taken place in Hertfordshire dating back March 2013.

Judge Griffith-Jones referred to the group as an ‘organised gang’ and said that it was a carefully targeted conspiracy.

Detective Constable Helen King from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said: “The common factor in all these offences was that the offenders targeted elderly or vulnerable people. The offenders worked in teams, and once they had the victim’s PIN they acted quickly to confuse or distract the victims in the car park, whilst simultaneously stealing their bank cards.

“They operated across Kent, sometimes swapping clothing to avoid detection, but we collected a huge amount of CCTV and electronic data that put them firmly in the location when the offences were taking place. When we inevitably caught up with them and our evidence was put to them they were left with little choice but to plead guilty. This has been a long running investigation but its conclusion is very satisfying and we will continue to pursue those who target the most vulnerable in society.

ANPR cameras are increasingly used by police throughout the world to support the prevention and detection of crime. Find our more by viewing our law enforcement pages.

Source: Kent News

Kuala Lumpur Police will use Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) equipment to identify foreign cars with outstanding summons, when entering the country.

The Auditor General’s report said the move was among measures to ensure foreigners with outstanding traffic summons settled their dues.

The AG’s report said 16.3 million summons were issued by the traffic police from 2011 to 2013 and from the total, 121,664 were summons issued to foreigners.

“Singaporeans top the total number of summons with (84,604), followed by Brunei with (25,803),” the report said adding that only 12,713 summons have been settled while the outstanding balance from the unsettled summons amounts to RM7.63 million.

For locals, only 6.7 million summons have been settled from 2011 to 2013, worth RM1.244 billion, said the report.

ALPR cameras are increasingly being used to support police in many such actions ensuring the safety and security of the world’s citizens as well as enforcing the law to all whether visitors or residents. To find out more about how ALPR cameras are supporting the police visit our law enforcement page.

Source: Astro Awani

North Yorkshire Police’s ability to tackle cross-border crime received a boost as they make an additional £1m investment in car number plate recognition technology to target travelling criminals. At present, a quarter of all detected crimes in North Yorkshire are perpetrated by cross-border criminals, who take advantage of the region’s large geography and road network to prey on local communities.

As well as theft and rural crimes, cross-border criminals can be involved in a wide range of other offences, including child sexual exploitation.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is already used by many forces (including North Yorkshire) to identify criminals en route, and build intelligence on their movement patterns. However, the new investment will allow North Yorkshire Police to increase its coverage across the region, refine its intelligence team, and deploy officers proactively to disrupt criminals in their vehicles.

Chief Constable Dave Jones said: ”I am delighted with this decision to improve our capability in tackling cross-border crime. It is an area where we are already very successful, through initiatives like Operation Hawk, but this will take us to the next level. However, ANPR is just one piece of the jigsaw.
Even more important are the changes we are making across the service to reduce red-tape, bring in new ways of working, and generally improve the service we offer to the people of North Yorkshire.

These are challenging times for police services across the country, but through our Operational Policing Model we are doing everything we can to ensure that the police service is effective and efficient, and that officers spend their time where it really matters – out in the community keeping people safe.”

The decision is part of a wider programme of activity, called the Operational Policing Model (OPM).The OPM includes a series of initiatives to improve efficiency across the police service, target offenders more precisely, and bring swifter justice to victims of crime. Technology is a major feature of the programme, as part of an overall drive to reduce bureaucracy, so resources can be focused on frontline police out in the community.

MAV are proud to work with police forces across the world in providing the ANPR cameras that support the reduction in criminal activity. Technology is placing an increasingly important part in policing and provides further tools to ensure the safety and security of communities in many countries. To find out more about the use of ANPR within the police visit our law enforcement page or view our downloads.

Source: Harrogate Informer

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The Highways Agency has confirmed the Dart Charge payment system will launch on 30 November for the Dartford – Thurrock River Crossing. The last cash payments at the crossing will be taken at 10pm on Saturday 29 November.

The charge to use the crossing will become electronis from Sunday 30 November and the crossing will remain free from 10pm-6am and the HA said the Local Residents’ Discount Scheme will remain in place.The website where drivers can set-up their pre-pay account was also launched, and the HA has said it will contact existing Dart-Tag customers to explain how to transfer their accounts.

The Dart Charge system will use automatic number plate recognition technology (APNR) to pick up vehicle numbers plates and then administer a charge to that vehicle.Motorists can pay the Dart Charge from a pre-paid online account linked to their car’s number plate, or they can pay online, by phone, text or a Payzone shop after they have driven through the crossing.

The current 27-lane ‘payment plaza’ will be replaced by four lanes in each direction, while the approach to the tunnel will have extra lanes to identity and turn away prohibited vehicles from the tunnels. This will provide further security and allow police to identify cars involved in criminal activity thereby making the roads and surrounding areas a safer place.

“Dart Charge will help speed up journeys so it’s great news for the tens of thousands of drivers who use the Crossing every day and for the economy,” said Nigel Gray, HA project manager.

ANPR Cameras are more frequently being used to support an increase in efficiency and safety, MAV support such applications and you can find out more on our tolling solution page.

Source: Businesscar

OVER 200 vehicles have been stopped and two seized in an international crime deterrence operation tackling human trafficking, money laundering and fraud in Gloucestershire.

Gloucestershire Constabulary and its Tri-Force partners from Wiltshire and Avon and Somerset Forces have achieved significant results in cracking down on the crimes that have a widespread negative effect. Working with international officers for Eastern Europe, Operation ‘Trivium 3’ was aimed at investigating people on suspicion of a range of offences as part of a five day campaign to tackle foreign criminals operating in this country.

In the Tri-Force area, some 280 people were spoken to and three were arrested.Almost 250 vehicles were stopped and two seized in the Tri-Force region during the joint operation, in which Gloucestershire Police among officers from across the country and Eastern Europe took part in.

The operation specifically targeted travelling criminals using the road network to avoid detection and transit around the country using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) checks on foreign-plated vehicles. The cameras can immediately tell police which cars were linked to criminality or uninsured, with Gloucestershire stopping nearly 20 vehicles as a result of ANPR ‘hits’.

The Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Forces’ efforts on the M4/M5 resulted in 202 offences being dealt with, £23,000 fines administered, 36 vehicles prohibited, and invaluable intelligence gained.British partner agencies that helped maximise results included the National Crime Agency, Home Office Immigration, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the Gangmaster Licencing Agency and Driving Vehicle Licencing Agency.Gloucestershire Chief Constable Suzette Davenport, who is the national lead for roads policing, said the criminal activity had a damaging impact on communities and businesses that are targeted.

“We want to prevent the public from the misery they cause and build on the intelligence we already have,” she said.
“These criminal gangs must use our roads to carry out their illegal activity, so by targeting them in this way we are aiming to develop a robust system to tackle the issue in the future.”

Many of these criminals use the road network to travel from area to area in an attempt to avoid detection and there are an estimated 3,600 international Organised Crime Groups active in the EU.

Chief Inspector Yannis Georgiou of Tri-Force, said the operation had proved “enormously successful”.
“The operation proved that foreign nationals who commit crime in UK, and who use our road network to facilitate that criminality, are not untouchable – operations like this prove that borders are no barrier to justice,” he said.

“In the past we’ve arrested people for crimes ranging from motoring offences to human trafficking, money laundering, GBH and fraud, as well as motoring offences like driving with no insurance or licence.

“But I should stress that we were targeting criminals, not the communities these offenders hail from. There are thousands of law abiding residents here from Eastern Europe who have integrated well.”

Source: Gloucester Citizen

To celebrate the launch of their new website MAV recently held a competition for all site visitors which has now been won. The puzzle pieces, which were used to hide much of the camera which required identification, proved difficult for a number of entrants who thought it was one MAV’s Rapier range of ANPR cameras. In fact, the hidden camera was the new Sabre 12 surveillance camera which has recently been added to MAV’s product portfolio, offering further solutions to their wide range of partners throughout the world.

The winner of the competition was Mr Tiago Fonseca, a software developer at Vision Box, an international identity solutions provider. Mr Fonseca was delighted at being the first to identify the Sabre 12 correctly and was even happier at being able to choose the charity to whom the donation would be given. Mr Fonseca chose Fundação Benfica which is a Foundation that develops integrated projects emphasizing early intervention on exclusion factors. In these areas, the Foundation has the primary concern of preventing delinquency and promoting educational success of children and youngsters as crucial factors of social mobility. To find out more visit their website.

MAV would like to congratulate Mr Fonseca on winning the competition but more importantly hope that the donation made to Fundação Benfica will further support the work they do to help children navigate the difficulties that they face on a daily basis.