Police are about to trial a new tool that turns an ordinary phone into a live number plate scanner — technology they say could transform how officers work the beat, for a fraction of the usual cost.
"It's a real game changer," Director of Deployment Superintendent Iain Chapman said.
He said it will help frontline officers by alerting them to stolen vehicles or persons of interest.
"Often when they're pulling over a vehicle, there's very limited or no information about the occupants, and we know unfortunately from history that from time to time the occupants can be dangerous," he said.
ANPR technology is already used in a limited number of police vehicles, with cameras mounted on the roof. However, it costs about $30,000 to install the kit on each car.
Putting the same capability into an app, by comparison, is remarkably cheap.
"If this pilot proves successful, we'll be able to put this into every police mobile phone on the front line for around $150,000, so it's a real cost saving," Chapman said.
The instant information on vehicles has one criminologist concerned about the public's privacy. (Source: 1News)
Police Association President Steve Watt said he supported the pilot programme.
"This advancement is truly fantastic, it's going to increase officer safety, increase productivity and provide real time information for officers on the beat," he said.
Criminologist Emmy Rākete expressed concerns about potential privacy breaches.
"That's a really profound form of contact with the state, and it's a really big move for the police to arrogate for themselves the right to know where everyone is at every moment," she said.
Chapman pushed back on privacy fears, saying the system was designed to collect as little data as possible.
"What we can say is the data collection with this technology is very minimal, we don't record the footage, we don't record any photos," he said.
Beyond stolen vehicles and persons of interest, the app will also flag cars with expired warrants of fitness or registrations — but only once they're more than two months overdue.
"A Warrant of Fitness or Registration will have to have expired by two months before it will alert us," Chapman said.
The pilot will run for six weeks and involve about 50 frontline staff across the country, in both provincial and urban areas.
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