Police mount Australia Day road safety blitz
Victoria Police ramp up use of number plate recognition tech during ‘high-risk holiday period’Police forces around the nation have begun a major road safety crackdown for the Australia Day public holiday period.
Among them, Victoria Police is employing its new automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology, targeting motorists who should not be on the road due to licence suspension or disqualification.
Unregistered or stolen vehicles, as well as those carrying fraudulent number plates, are also high on Vic Pol’s radar as part of Operation Amity, which kicked off this morning.
The Victorian blitz comes with the announcement that every highway patrol vehicle in the state will now be fitted with ANPR software, which can automatically scan vehicle number plates and match them to a database of vehicles of interest.
An in-car-video that records roadside interactions is also part of the new gear, which is able to be used in court as evidence, according to Victoria Police.
The roof-mounted plate recognition technology is already used in police cars across the country, although the number of vehicles fitted with the ANPR system varies in each state and territory.
The tech might sound familiar to those who recall the strict COVID-19 lockdown measures in place in 2020, where Vic Pol used the same software to detect motorists travelling outside of their coronavirus hotspot postcodes.
As with NSW Police, Vic Pol says motorists should also expect a heavier presence of roadside alcohol and drug testing stations across the Australia Day holiday period.
The upgrade to the state’s highway patrol fleet is said to have come after a 10-day Christmas operation found more than 1700 motorists who were disqualified, suspended, unlicensed or driving unregistered vehicles.
According to assistant commissioner in charge of road policing, Glenn Weir, Victoria Police is removing more unauthorised drivers from our roads than ever.
“These drivers have no right to be on our roads,” he said. “They pose a significant risk not only to themselves but to all road users.
“Automatic number plate recognition technology gives us another set of eyes on the roads to stop these drivers in their tracks.
“We will use the more than 200 highway patrol vehicles fitted with this technology at every opportunity – especially high-risk holiday periods like Australia Day.”
Related: Police use number plate recognition to catch COVID-19 evaders
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