Police Release Automatic License Plate Recognition Audit Results

Police have completed an extensive audit of police use of Automatic License Plate Recognition (ANPR) through two provider platforms.

ANPR is the technology used by police to read license plates on motor vehicles. It is an effective tool to assist police in preventing and investigating crime in the community and is regularly used to assist in serious investigations such as murder, assault and aggravated robbery.

Its use as an investigative tool is extremely valuable in holding criminals accountable and preventing further harm.

The use of ANPR has increased significantly over the last few years as it has become an established part of routine policing and as the number of cameras across networks has expanded. In response to this increased use, the police proceeded with a planned audit of police use of his ANPR provider platform.

Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson said the audit was an important part of ensuring that all law enforcement personnel were complying with guidelines and policies regarding the use of ANPR.

“This included research and cross-references of over 350,000 ANPR reviews from 2018 to 2022 to build a holistic picture of ANPR data accessed by police. We have used this tool within police guidelines and have found it reliable to use ANPR data responsibly.

“Of the many reviews audited, only a very small number of cases involving five police officers were audited to ensure integrity and referral to action groups for follow-up,” Johnson said. said.

“While we were disappointed to see a small number of cases where staff were not using the technology correctly, it overwhelmingly demonstrates the dedication of our staff to using ANPR to make our communities safer. increase.

“It also showed that there is considerable overlap in reviews between the two platforms used by the police, as they offer the same service with access to different cameras. Contributing.

“Opportunities to better prevent misuse and errors, and to more easily detect whether future actions outside police policy occurred were also important findings from the audit.

“We are already making progress with both platform providers on how to strengthen these controls. This includes consultations with the Privacy Commissioner’s office and the Police Association on audits and their recommendations.” said Assistant Commissioner Johnson.

“This is an audit, and an important first step in safeguarding the use of this technology. It will be included in the police’s program of internal audits and assurance work to provide.”

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Published by Police Media Center

Website for documents related to the New Zealand police audit of the use of the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) platform:

https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/programmes-and-initiatives/police-us…

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