Crime focus

Police roll out automatic number plate recognition cameras in Townsville

ON the face of it, rolling out (literally) antihooning cameras on trailers does not sound like a groundbreaking response to the relentless tide of youth crime washing over North Queensland on an almost nightly basis.

But the technology packed into these units will give police a vital new tool to automatically scan number plates to detect reported stolen cars on our roads.

As well as giving police an extra “set of eyes’’ on moving and stationary traffic, they will support investigators in gathering evidence against perpetrators to be submitted in court at a later date.

QPS Acting Assistant Commissioner Chris Stream said the anti-hoon trailers are one of several overt and covert strategies police use to target hooning, particularly large-scale hooning events.

“Police will continue to conduct a variety of intelligencedriven enforcement patrols while also undertaking operations using the high-definition camera trailers,” he said.

Like the recently-introduced weapon-detecting “wanding” program in Townsville’s Safe

Night Precinct, the trailer cameras add another tool to QPS’S arsenal in combating crime across North Queensland.

While Police Minister Mark Ryan lauded the anti-hooning potential of the technology, high hopes are held for their ability to identify stolen vehicles in real time, allowing police to intercept them before they can pose a high-risk threat to other road users.

Any other equipment or tools police believe can aid them in reducing crime should also be tested, evaluated and rolled out where needed.

“Our message to anyone taking part in high-risk activities on our roads is that police will continue to target you, investigate your dangerous antics and take action against you,” he said.

“The majority of Queenslanders understand the importance of road safety, they observe the rules and are sick and tired of this kind of behaviour on our roads.”