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On tonight's programme I report on how the Police are using cars rigged with cameras and other high-tech gear to catch thieves. It seems to work - car crime in West Yorkshire fell by a fifth during the six months it was being tried out.
I reckon most people would reckon it was a pretty reasonable way to get convictions for often very persistent criminals and it is just one way that the Police are making use of new technology.
You've probably heard of Automatic Number Plate Recognition - cameras that can read number plates and then check them against Police databases to see if the cars are wanted for any reason. Again, it sounds pretty innocuous doesn't it?
What I didn't realise was just how widespread the technology is. A couple of weeks ago I was filming with the Police for another One Show item. The patrol car we were in had a camera fixed to the rear window. It turns out it was also part of the ANPR system.
Sure enough, within a couple of minutes we'd clocked a couple of cars driving without tax. What astonished me was that all the data it collects goes back to the databases and is stored for 5 years. And I mean all the data - every single car!
And what's more there are now thousands of ANPR capable cameras. Most of our towns and cities now have ANPR cameras on all main roads. When the network is complete it will record up to 50m number plates a day.
Think what that means. Every time you pass one of these cameras there is a record. If you drive from Leicester to Manchester, say, you might pass tens or even hundreds of them.
There's no question that this is really powerful technology for the police. A number of murders have been solved because they could show that the murderer was near where the victim was picked up or where the body was dumped.
The question is whether the benefits outweigh the costs. Do you think technology like this means we are living in a surveillance society, that Big Brother is watching us? Alternatively do you think that anything that can help the Police catch murderers and other criminals has to be worth having?
I think it is a really tough call, please tell us what you think.
Are we living in a surveillance society?
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Thanks for a very interesting piece Justin. I have to say I am extremely concerned at the use of capture cars. I believe strongly that they ARE entrapment, as they are encouraging a crime to take place.
As we can't legislate against stupidity surely the appropriate response would be to educate drivers not to leave valuables in clear view? If no items were left in full view then car crime would surely fall by more than the 19% capture cars have delivered?
What next? Capture houses for burglars? Capture drug dealers? Better investigative policing is surely more important than trapping people.
Your extended piece online with regards to number plate recognition is also very worrying. My understanding is that local councils are being encouraged to install number plate recognition software into their CCTV networks.
I'm sure other viewers might think that this is only a worry if you have something to hide, but these develeopments mean that we can be tracked virtually everywhere. The UK is already one of the most monitored populations on the planet.
We all agree that criminals need to be apprehended, but why does the whole population have to be put under surveillance in order to catch a very small minority of the population that commit a crime?
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As a fire and security system industry professional - and business - who has been involved in the design, installation, service and project management of many ANPR cameras, among other projects, I can say we are living in a surveillance society, but one for which we should all be grateful.
The ANPR network is not used for vehicle offence monitoring alone, but is shared in part, in many areas, by county councils, Highways, and other authorities - to monitor road use and repair frequency, to wieght decisions to update road networks, to influence decisions to transport things in other ways.
Specifically for security purposes, however, ANPR is responsbile for taking very many uninsured drivers off the roads, and it is now statistically proven that often non insured or taxed cars are more likely to be involved in other, more serious crimes.
It also helps keep insurance premiums lower, roads safer, and so on.
It provides Police with resources to tackle crime in ways they never could before - both by concentrating on other crime, and by using the intelligence gathered by the ANPR network.
Smart Water - mentioned in the programme - is also used successfully in many commercial and retail premises now, linked to intruder detection systems. As mentioned, it provides incontrovertable proof of involvement in crime.
In all, it is a balance of pros and cons - but the alternative to having these systems would surely be far more widespread anarchy than we see daily in our towns and cities (and villages) today. Our society simply cannot afford the cost of real policemen in the place of these systems.
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surveillance society only exist if you are braking the law
If you do not brake the law you have nothing to fear from CCTV or ANPR and if you take in to consideration the price hike insurance companies put on car policy's just to cover the law breakers
we need more of them and as far as keeping the information for five years well that just protects the public if some one is accused of a crime the cameras can show where they were at any time
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Capture cars, or bait cars - as they are known in the States - are an excellent idea for catching criminals and deterring car crime. (I think British forces are too timid to use the term ‘Bait Car’.) Police departments in the States have been using them for years. They are also used for catching car thieves. The cars have cameras in them and remote control door and window locks and engine shut-off switches. The car is driven to a known area for car crime and left either locked or unlocked. Sometimes a male and female police officer will park the car and then act as if they are having a domestic argument and then both leave the area. The thief steals the car while police watch from nearby and on CCTV. They then follow in unmarked cars and at an appropriate time and place remotely shut down the engine and lock the doors and windows. Caught in the act! The question of 'entrapment' is invalid. Entrapment is, basically, enticing someone to do something they would not normally do by making the prospect of success too lucrative to avoid. I would like to see every force in the country begin a bait car program.
Jim, Oxfordshire
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Personally I think it's a good thing to have all this surveillance. Only yesterday I spotted a couple of police cars had stopped a chap who was in the throws of removing all his belongings from the boot of his car. It was obvious the car was untaxed or not insured. The only thing wrong with the whole thing was the owners dog who was caught up in it all! Good luck to the police and I hope they crush hundreds of cars. The sooner they're off the roads, the better.
PS. I think someone should proof read the typing before placing it on the web page i.e. Are we are living in a surveillance society? (above)
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Brownpl asks whether we will be using capture house for burglars and capture drug dealers next. Absolutely! Again, police in the States have been using officers in plain clothes to stand in known areas for drug sales. Some even drive around in cars. They are either approached by drug users asking to buy drugs or the officers approach them and actively ask them if they want to buy drugs. When the sale is made - with real drugs, by the way - other officers swoop in and make the arrest. (Side note - if the buyer discards or attempts to destroy the drugs, he's charged with tampering with evidence!) The Brevard County Sheriffs Office in Florida has been so successful they have had to process arrested drug buyers and then release them on the street in order to make further arrests. These people are already drug users and car thieves and would be buying drugs and stealing cars from somewhere else if not from the police. It's not entrapment. It's catching someone doing something illegal. They would commit the illegal act without the police there. And bait houses have been successful as well. These procedures are just another way of getting criminals off the street.
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At the moment I am looking to join the Police and have done some research into the capture cars. This shows how much technology has moved on and how the police can catch more criminals in the act, this also is good for evidence as the tape is played in court and this can secure either a heavy fine, or a jail sentence so they are very good bits of equipment, Personally I think that if you are not breaking the Law you have nothing to fear. The use of ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) is also good as if the car has been stolen and then the Police can return it to the rightful owner. The reason new technology has taken over Police on the street is because police have to do a lot more paperwork now rather than policing on the street. However the new capture cars may help reduce crime figures as there will be more convictions as the crimimals are caught on camera, so these cameras may help reduce car crime and the criminals have no way of knowing what cars have the capture cameras in, so if this works we should see a reduction in car crime. Just remember if you don't break the Law you do not need to fear about being watched by cameras, if you are walking past a car with a capture camera in it can also prove that you are not involved in the crime. it can also help find the location of where the crime has taken place.
Kelly - Watford
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Smashing piece Justin! You didn't mention the traditional forensic and other investigative technologies that are used to find the lowlifes that break into cars over and over again and steal our stuff: Glass, fibres, fingerprints, footmarks, DNA, witness testimony, alarm activation records, CCTV - all designed to prove the commission of a crime. All widely accepted forms of evidence, tested through the courts on a daily basis in an open democracy that we still have in the UK. Just.
So what's the difference between those accepted 'traditional' methods and the visual digital technology deployed in ANPR systems and in trap cars? The technology is open and subject to scrutiny. My view is that when you get a license to drive a four wheeled killing machine (by having a driving license or by paying a road tax) you agree to follow the rules of whatever system is in place.
And part of those rules are that the licensing authorities get to know where every vehicle and every driver is at any time, anywhere. If you don't like the rules, get yourself a pony or walk. None of these ANPR systems are interested in people - they're only interested in numbers!
And as for the civil rights of the 'hoodie' breaking into your car and nicking your stuff that you stupidly left in full view, their rights will be adequately protected in the criminal justice system, which is the envy of the world. No problem there - it will take 17 convictions to receive the first custodial sentence for your average Ne'er-Do-Well!
So let the police get on and catch the little thugs using whatever cool technology they can deploy. Maybe the BBC would help out with some of their fantastic cool digital image technology, and I'm sure their wireless and satellite gear would come in real useful to get to the crime scene and nick the blighters pronto!
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Kelly, you'll be glad to hear that active measures are being taken in order to reduce police paperwork, leaving more time for them to be pro-active. A few forces are now using their new radio systems to log each time they stop a person on the street and ask them to explain their presence. (This isn't done just randomly - police have to have a reason for stopping someone.) In the past this involved a long form to fill out back at the station. It now involves just a couple of button presses on their radios and then a receipt given to the person stopped. ANPR is used as an intelligence tool as well as a means of catching drivers of cars with no insurance. Personally, I'm absolutely for any method of getting every uninsured driver off the road! You're right - if you're not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
Jonashe - couldn't say it much better!
Jim, Oxfordshire
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"The ANPR network is not used for vehicle offence monitoring alone, but is shared in part, in many areas, by county councils, Highways, and other authorities - to monitor road use and repair frequency, to wieght decisions to update road networks, to influence decisions to transport things in other ways." - Directfiresec
None of which requires ANPR, just a vehicle count.
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Great show, thanks.
I'm from Liverpool and it's not the first time I've heard about this Smartwater as it was featured on Crimewatch Solved when it was used to convict some armed robbers. The police here use it alot and I know the police in London used it to lock up some other robbers who were attacking Securicor vans.
The fact that the thief in your show said that he'd stopped stealing because of Smartwater makes me wonder who invented it, as its brilliant stuff.
So, is it made by the police by their CSI experts or can anybody use it?
Thanks
Mark
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I am quite horrified that this has been allowed to happen. I'm not one of these people who go out with a tin of red paint & throw it over a person wearing fur.
I watched a documentary about the fur industry. It showed the humane way of doing it, which still quite sad, but it was nothing to the secret footage it showed. I'm still having nightmares. The one part that styaed with me was the face of a poor animal thats skin had been peeled off and it was alive. It's big black eyes were blinking. I'll never wear it.
There is no need to wear real fur. There are so many different material that can be used.
Kelly, Co. Fermanagh, N. Ireland
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Hoy! We're moaning about the police on this blog, not little brown eyed animals! Get onto the right stream!
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The police cannot seem to please everyone.if we did'nt use trap cars we would get accused of doing nothing, when we do use them we get accused of encouraging the crime to occur, if the trap car was not used the crime would still take place. Oh to be a police officer in this day and age of complainers..i'm glad i am now retired..
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Smartwater..
anybody is able to use it, it can be purchased from the manufacturer for use in and around the house..there are similar products available also.
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"If you are not breaking the law, you've nothing to worry about". How can people be so naive. Governments dictate the law and what you consider to be within the law now, in 10 years time might be without the law. When the German Jews in the 1930s thought they were doing the right thing by filling in their details for the IBM tabulators little did they know that within a few years being a Jew would be classified as breaking the law. This government and its minions already know enough about me....they even know how I vote?? Check it out the next time you enter a polling booth. And they would also like a sample of my DNA. Wouldn't that be a bonus for any right wing racist party in power.
As far as the trap cars are concerned, I think it a good idea if it helps take scumbags off the street.
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Law abiding citizens wouldn't be tempted by any sort of entrapment, if they try nicking other peoples stuff , then they get what they deserve, simple as. I also have no objection to cameras in shops or on the street, and I don't mind identity cards either, as a child I carried one during the 2nd world war, every one did, ( there I go showing my age ) if you've nothing to hide, why worry, I see nothing wrong with D.N.A. records either, if it catches a murderer, or a rapist.
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