Spy in the sky will help police keep an eye on drivers

[OpenMind]

Spy in the sky will help police keep an eye on drivers

By David Millward, Transport Correspondent

(Filed: 14/03/2006)

High-powered cameras capable of reading number plates from several thousand feet up have been bought by five police forces.

Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and the Met are among forces who have invested in the technology which is already used in America, Canada, Norway and Luxembourg.

The cameras can calculate whether a motorist is breaking the speed limit, with the information being transmitted from a helicopter to the police control centre on the ground.

Any hope the motorist might have of escaping the prying eye in the sky is slim, especially with Wescam, the Canadian manufacturers, developing a device capable of working at night.

A number of forces have expressed interest in this technology. The use of military hardware is the latest evidence of the importance Government and police forces attach to monitoring motorists.

In the short term, tracking drivers is seen as important in the Government's campaign to cut the number of road deaths. It will also be essential if "pay by the mile" road pricing is introduced in Britain.

Last week in Pwhelli, North Wales, a woman caught on video camera putting on her make-up while driving was fined £200, ordered to pay £55 costs and had six penalty points added to her licence.

Other motorists have been prosecuted after being filmed fumbling with a map while driving.

Surveillance of motorists will be stepped up with the Government planning a sharp increase in the number of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras over the next 12 months. They will run alongside the existing network of closed circuit television cameras on main roads and in town centres.

Ministers have still to decide whether the ANPR network is to be self-financing, with the money it raises from fines being invested in more equipment. Some within Whitehall believe that the Government will step back from this, fearing it could provoke the same level of outrage as speed cameras.

Cameras are only one tool in what is becoming an increasingly sophisticated armoury. The European Commission wants every car built from 2009 to have an electronic chip under the bonnet.

The chips will be read either by devices on roadside gantries or possibly by satellite.

This will help police track down - and, if technology allows, slow down - stolen cars or vehicles used by criminals. The devices could also be used to charge motorists should they be obliged to pay for road usage.

In Singapore motorists must have a readable card which has to be topped up - much in the same way as "pay as you go" mobile phones - before they can drive into the congestion zone.

Every time they pass a gantry money is deducted from the card, according to when and where they are driving.

Ministers in Britain are also considering proposals that cars should be equipped with black box data recorders similar to those used on aircraft which would enable the police to piece together events leading up to a road accident.

But it is not only police and the authorities who are using technology to track motorists.

Norwich Union has installed black boxes in a number of cars. Linked to global positioning satellites they enable policy holders' premiums to be based on their driving patterns.

In America rental companies use the same technology to impose additional charges on motorists who "abuse" the cars by using unauthorised roads or breaking the speed limit.

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006.

[Frederick]

I am so sick to death with this interfering Government, I'd love to see if it would be possible to drive from say, East Finchley in North Londen, to Stockwell, in South London WITHOUT being picked up on camera, and then advertise the route! It is even worse in the City of London where you cannot walk ten yards down the road without police observation cameras homing in on you. If you think I'm exaggerating, try walking past Aldgate and along Fenchurch Street and count the number of closed circuit television cameras so see. Oh yes, they'll say, they're there for your protection. but I get sick of "being protected". What this country needs is an "Up Yours" day where for just one day in the year, City workers walk about in masks so that these busy bodying authorities cannot tell who is who. As far as I know, you won't be breaking any laws by doing it and who knows, this interfering Govent might just get the message that it's populace is sick to death of it's Big Brother tactics. And no, I am not paranoid - it's just I've had enough of this Government. There are, in fact, more cameras in London than there are in New York.

[OpenMind]

Frederick wrote: I am so sick to death with this interfering Government, I'd love to see if it would be possible to drive from say, East Finchley in North Londen, to Stockwell, in South London WITHOUT being picked up on camera, and then advertise the route! It is even worse in the City of London where you cannot walk ten yards down the road without police observation cameras homing in on you. If you think I'm exaggerating, try walking past Aldgate and along Fenchurch Street and count the number of closed circuit television cameras so see. Oh yes, they'll say, they're there for your protection. but I get sick of "being protected". What this country needs is an "Up Yours" day where for just one day in the year, City workers walk about in masks so that these busy bodying authorities cannot tell who is who. As far as I know, you won't be breaking any laws by doing it and who knows, this interfering Govent might just get the message that it's populace is sick to death of it's Big Brother tactics. And no, I am not paranoid - it's just I've had enough of this Government. There are, in fact, more cameras in London than there are in New York.


Do you know, everyone I speak to in the course of my work hasn't got a good word to say for this Government. It makes me wonder how they got in to power let alone stay for three terms.

[pantsonfire321@aol.com]

It was also said on the news that the police have been tracking people who use oyster cards on public transport - where will it end .

[OpenMind]

Why Oyster Cards?:-2

[cars]

Just as Info: In one of my "Car & Driver" magazines there's a product advertised just for this type of SPY survaillance avoidance. It's supposed to make your Car licence plate "Invisible" to Traffic Cameras. The product is called: PhotoBlocker

(The ad says to got to: www.PhotoBlocker.com) I never used this product myself, as I usually don't speed excessively, so I can't really say if it works or not! But. . .

[OpenMind]

cars wrote: Just as Info: In one of my "Car & Driver" magazines there's a product advertised just for this type of SPY survaillance avoidance. It's supposed to make your Car licence plate "Invisible" to Traffic Cameras. The product is called: PhotoBlocker

(The ad says to got to: www.PhotoBlocker.com) I never used this product myself, as I usually don't speed excessively, so I can't really say if it works or not! But. . .


Just a quick look tells me that the technology of the Photo Blocker is dependent on the flash generated by a normal road speed camera. Unfortunately, this wouldn't apply where a satellite is concerned.

Imagine, if satellites depended on flash it would have to be very bright to work. I reckon that all the relevant satellites would be permanently flashing. The sun would be hidden behind a wall of flash. We'd all go blind and would have to stop driving, runing trains, and flying planes. CO levels would decrease, the planet would be saved from global warming, oil reserves would last for another 1,000 years, tax revenues would fall, governments would topple, wars would end....

[pantsonfire321@aol.com]

OpenMind wrote: Why Oyster Cards?:-2


It didnt give spercifics so i can only speculate .. as each card is registered to its owner it makes sence .Benifit fraudsters claiming to be unable to work can be traced moonlighting or terrorist suspects flitting around the country . Apparently 61 applications for information were made in the month of jan - i really see this as a slippery slope dibble and big brother IS WATCHING ...

[OpenMind]

pantsonfire321@aol.com wrote: It didnt give spercifics so i can only speculate .. as each card is registered to its owner it makes sence .Benifit fraudsters claiming to be unable to work can be traced moonlighting or terrorist suspects flitting around the country . Apparently 61 applications for information were made in the month of jan - i really see this as a slippery slope dibble and big brother IS WATCHING ...


So long as they're only using it to track criminals. They shouldn't be using to track innocent people, this would be an intrusion.

[pantsonfire321@aol.com]

[QUOTE=OpenMind shouldn't be using to track innocent people, this would be an intrusion.


Very true..... i believe we will only find out once it has already happened .