ACT Policing’s traffic operations cars are to be fitted with state-of-the-art technology to make the city and its roads safer places to live and drive in.
A new three-camera automatic number plate recognition system will enable officers to identify and process plates on vehicles in front, beside, behind and approaching the traffic vehicle from the opposite direction.
Announcing the measure, Minister for Police, Mick Gentleman said the fleet was also being equipped with five on-car cameras that provide practically 360-degree coverage around the vehicle.
“The system has been custom made and installed for ACT Policing and we are the only Australian jurisdiction to have five in-car video cameras recording,” Mr Gentleman said.
“We are supporting ACT Policing with new technology to ensure our officers have the tools and resources to effectively carry out their work.”
He said being able to detect unregistered cars and drivers more quickly made Canberra’s roads safer and meant drivers would spend less time waiting at Random Breath Testing sites, enabling police to test more drivers.
“ACT Policing is a leader in the application of number plate recognition technology,” Mr Gentleman said.
“In 2003 the ACT was the first Australian jurisdiction to use RAPID (Recognition and Analysis of Plates Identified) and we have been innovating ever since.”
He said the new ACT Policing Traffic Operations fleet was in the process of being rolled out.
“In addition to the upgraded automatic number plate recognition system, vehicles are equipped with fixed touchscreen and a laptop-tablet paired to the car via secure Wi-Fi; automatic encrypted Wi-Fi download of stored data upon the vehicle’s return to the operations centre; and Internet Protocol connectivity to allow future devices to be connected,” the Minister said.
