Ferrari Mailing List: Re: In BC Canada now, coming to the USA?

[JAshburne (JAshburne]

This is a truly frightening use of technology.  It's bad enough that  people 
can be tracked wherever they go with their cellphones, now this. Big  Brother 
is here.
 
John
 
 
In a message dated 1/22/2007 2:44:03 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
dave [at] davehanda.com writes:

Police  track license plate numbers currently, but they have to input them
manually  into their computers as they are  driving.










<http://www.baitcar.com/news_government_and_police_launch_new_crime_fighting
_tool>  Government and Police Launch New Crime-Fighting Tool

Nov. 9,  2006
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General 

GOVERNMENT AND  POLICE LAUNCH NEW CRIME-FIGHTING TOOL 

VICTORIA - British Columbia is  the first province in Canada to use a new
crime-fighting technology,  Automatic Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR), to
target both traffic  violators and stolen vehicles, Solicitor General John
Les announced today.  

"We are taking back B.C. roads with this phenomenal technology," said  Les.
"We're targeting car thieves and prohibited drivers by using  interactive,
high-tech solutions, combined with criminal analysis  techniques. It's all
part of the future of policing in B.C." 

ALPR  is a camera and computer database system. Police are assisted by
cameras  mounted in their cars that capture images of licence plates on
vehicles on  public highways. The ALPR system reads the licence plate and
instantly  compares it against the data base in the onboard computer. The
data base  includes information associated with stolen vehicles and
uninsured,  unlicensed and prohibited drivers. The data collected onboard  is
transferred daily to a secure server at the RCMP Federal  Operations
Building. If the license plate does not show a violation, the  image will be
automatically purged from the computer system after three  months. If the
licence plate shows a violation, the image is retained by  police for two
years as required by federal law. As an RCMP unit, IMPACT  falls under
federal privacy laws and the federal privacy commissioner has  reviewed the
technology. The provincial privacy commissioner has also been  briefed on the
ALPR project. 

The Integrated Municipal Provincial  Auto Crime Team (IMPACT) ran a
short-term pilot project where several  ALPR-equipped police vehicles tested
the equipment in order to gather  baseline data. Police are working with the
International Centre for Urban  Research Studies (ICURS) at Simon Fraser
University and the University  College of the Fraser Valley who are providing
data analysis for the  project. 

"Early results of the pilot project are amazing," said Les.  "In one hour, a
police vehicle captured images of 600 plates and on average  got one hit for
every 60 plates." Les added that nine per cent of those  hits were associated
with a stolen vehicle, 7 per cent associated to a  prohibited driver, 25 per
cent of the hits were associated with an  unlicensed or uninsured vehicle and
59 per cent of hits were associated  with an unlicensed driver. 

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Gary Bass says  the operational stage of the
pilot study begins this week. ALPR units are  being deployed throughout the
Lower Mainland in strategic locations based  on crime analysis trends. The
ALPR equipped vehicles are working with  police resources from IMPACT, the
Integrated Road Safety Units, the Lower  Mainland Traffic Division, and other
police agencies. 

"Stolen  vehicles and unsafe drivers identified by ALPR units will be
targeted and  when appropriate, charges will be recommended," said Bass. 

Air One,  B.C.'s first dedicated, fully equipped traffic safety helicopter,
which was  purchased by government with funding from ICBC, will play a
significant  role in the apprehension of violators identified by ALPR. Air
One can carry  out air surveillance and track the vehicle to a safe location
where ground  units can apprehend.