ANPR operation focuses on Northamptonshire Police’s #MatterOfPriority

• 82 vehicles stopped
• 19 arrests made
• The most serious offences targeted including GBH, robbery, drugs and domestic violence 

An ANPR operation which took place last week secured a number of good results connected to serious violence – a matter of priority for Northamptonshire Police. 

ANPR - Automatic Number Plate Recognition - reads the registration of passing vehicles and checks them across several databases, raising the alert if a vehicle is stolen, linked to crime/intelligence, or doesn’t have the correct documentation. 

In the latest operation, which kicked off ten-weeks of action focusing on serious violence, 82 vehicles were stopped and 19 arrests were made. 

On Monday, two men were arrested after their vehicles were stopped – one for a high-risk domestic stalking offence and the other in connection with an incident where a man threatened to burn a house down. 

Tuesday saw multiple arrests for robbery, domestic abuse and theft, as well as the stopping and seizing of a vehicle believed to be on cloned plates. 

And the results didn’t let up as the week progressed with more arrests for domestic violence, robbery, drugs offences, rape, and those wanted on recall to prison. 

Another good result saw a 31-year-old man arrested in connection with grievous bodily harm and dangerous driving. 

ANPR Manager Jamie Culverhouse said: “Last week kicked off ten-weeks of surge activity which will focus on tackling serious violence and I’m really pleased with the results we achieved. 

“ANPR is an invaluable piece of technology in taking our fight back to the criminals and these results once again demonstrate how dangerous a tool it is if you are an offender looking to evade the police. 

“I hope the public in Northamptonshire are reassured by these results and I want to reaffirm our commitment in continuing to utilise it to keep people safe and to bring those people who threaten that safety to justice.” 

The Force’s ANPR network has more than doubled in recent years with just over 150 additional new cameras installed since 2020, increasing coverage across rural areas and major towns as well as on the county borders. 

Officers would like to utilise this resource as much as possible by asking members of the public to get in touch with details of suspicious vehicles that they feel officers need to look out for. 

If you know of a vehicle connected to a crime, please get in touch by call 101 or if you would prefer to remain anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.