New tech helps find 4,300 'ghost plates'

PIONEERING SCHEME DETECTS ILLEGAL VEHICLE NUMBER PLATES

- STAFF REPORTER

THE true scale of the use of illegal ‘ghost plates’ on vehicles is becoming clearer after a pioneering scheme uncovered 4,335 instances of non-compliant plates in a single location in Birmingham in a fortnight.

The first phase of Operation Phantom - a landmark collaboration between West Midlands Police and Redspeed International - trialled cutting-edge technology to detect vehicles displaying illegal 3D and 4D ‘ghost plates’ specifically designed to evade Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems.

This has led to a substantial increase in the identification of vehicles using illegal ghost plates and provided the Roads Policing team with a new capability to identify and track vehicles previously ‘invisible’ to West Midlands Police systems.

This deployment of a new generation of ANPR technology not only enhances road safety but is also instrumental in tackling dangerous driving and other criminal activity on our roads.