ANPR Incident

[Flash]

This noon I was out in my CL500 that I have recently bought. The V5 I have sent off to DVLA to have it registered to myself from the former keeper and am waiting for it to be issued to myself.

The car has only ever had one previous owner (who I bought it off).

I was driving along as normal and noticed the presence of a ANPR Police van, and four Police cars scattered close together and traffic officers and they flagged me down to stop. The ANPR (not sure if that is what is abbreviated as) picked out the standard number plate the car is on. It turns out that the either the car or previous owner have been involved in crime and they would not tell me which it was. They at first thought I was man they were after and got a little bit excited despite me explaining the situation to them. I provided them details of my insurance company and some ID to verify who I was and insurance company advised them that I was the recorded registered owner on the details that I had provided to insure the car along with the dates etc. They then also managed to get through to the DVLA afterwards. Also, the man they wanted did not even match my description…

I did not like the way they were treating/talking to me and at one point asked them if it was ok if I was to film the incident/conversation on my mobile phone whilst they verified who I was (that’s when they started to behave more professionally).

I now have to find a nice cherished number plate ASAP so that something like this does not happen again.

PS. The car is fully legitimate in case anyone is wondering and the previous owner has a collection of nice cars. I bought the car at a very good price and what ever the former owner has been involved in or is currently involved in none if my business.

 

[glojo]

Hi Flash,
Can you recall my son being involved in a road traffic accident the day he bought his VW GTi? The Police attended the scene, they checked on the car, it came up on their computer as being owned by the trade, BUT the insurance details came back with the car details in my son's name. Hopefully your insurance details verified who you were.

Having said that; if my son's car was still registered to an extremely nasty person, then I would fully understand if the Police were heavy handed with him. Far better to secure the suspect, both for the safety of this person and of course the Police.

I am so pleased to read that this incident ended the way it did.

Regards,
John

 

[Flash]

I remember the incident Glojo... Bit worrying that the info the Police have access to is not always up to date. The insurance company/details verified who I was in addition to my ID that they insisted on seeing.

I'm glad it ended all well too - However, I did become annoyed but did not show it when they were talking about possibly removing the interior boot panels after a brief basic search, but luckily they did not go that far.

 

[glojo]

Bit worrying that the info the Police have access to is not always up to date. The insurance company/details verified who I was in addition to my ID that they insisted on seeing.

I hope Plodd can update us, but I suppose the Police rely on the DVLA? It might be that the insurance company get the information onto the Police National Computer much quicker than the staff at the DVLA?

Regards,
John

 

[GrahamC230K]

You seem to be unlucky Flash.

A bit of a shame if a simple number plate swap stops the system in it's tracks looking at it the other way.

 

[Swiss Toni]

I now have to find a nice cherished number plate ASAP so that something like this does not happen again.

Flash - That won't make any difference and by the sound of it the information they were looking at wasn't out-of-date DVLA information.

 

[DITTRICH]

We don't know what was inside the police database that flagged that registration number for investigation. It could be a number of things - some very serious indeed - in which case the incident might have been alot worse from Flash's point of view. The police are not perfect - they are human - just like the rest of us - for good or bad - not an excuse but an observation. The good news is that once Flash's identity had been verified, matters improved. I hope the police database now reflects that this number plate should not be flagged for stopping.

 

[pammy]

I agree - although uncomfortable for Flash for a short while, he wasn't wrongly arrested or anything like that - and a potential criminal might have been apprehended, removing him from the streets.

When you buy something new like a house or a car there's always that time lapse while things work through the whole set of systems.

 

[wobbly]

Flash Im sorry to hear of you problem, but I must say how effective these police operations are at catching criminals.
As part of my work, I quite oftern work with police ANPR teams. Im just heading off on a job today.
Over the past two years, I have seen how effective the operations are. Not only for driving offences, such as no licence, or no insurance, but for tackleing serious crime.
I have seen a large number of arrests, for offences, such as drugs, fraud, firearms, and people who have skipped bail, on quite serious charges.
Yes Flash, you may have felt uneasy for a while, but you must admit, if these operations help fight crime then they are a good thing.

 

[blassberg]

I now have to find a nice cherished number plate ASAP so that something like this does not happen again.

OK - but I suggest not B1 GGS or R1 NGA or MAF 1A or you may get stopped again...

 

[Flash]

I absolutely agree that the APNR is a good system at catching the criminals/uninsured and untaxed vehicles etc. and am in favour of it.

I understand at end of the day the Traffic Officers have a job to do and had to flag the vehicle down due to the database but it would have been nice if they had been more friendly from the point when they knew I was not the person they were after or even of they said have a good day afterwards.

I hope the database has been updated with some notes as Dittrich pointed out in his post.

So do you guys definitely think that even if I do get a private number plate transferred on to the vehicle it will still get flagged by the APNR crew? However, a Graham said it would be shame from their point of view if a simple registration transfer would disable the APNR operation. I can see the argument from both sides now. Worse comes to the worse then I’ll just have to carry my insurance docs/V5 with me at all times when in the car to simplify matters if something like this was to happen again.

 

[Flash]

OK - but I suggest not B1 GGS or R1 NGA or MAF 1A or you may get stopped again...

Amount of "tacky" number plates I have seen is alarming.

Off Topic: There is a W140 S Class on a standard R plate (with six letters) on a council estate that I sometimes see. The owner has now changed the format of the reg from "R*****" to "R**** *"

 

[Satch]

Ah well, even if you were a criminal mastermind not much to fear it seems:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...FOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/01/24/nsoca124.xml

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Deleted post.

 

[Howard]

Ah the w215 CL ....

The drug dealers car of choice ..... i expect that's why they wanted to remove the boot panels.....

Don't be driving around council estates in the CL Flash , people will be stopping you looking for 'wraps' ......

You could always get ' P1MPN ' .... Tee Hee ....

Sorry

 

[Swiss Toni]

So do you guys definitely think that even if I do get a private number plate transferred on to the vehicle it will still get flagged by the ANPR crew?

A plate change won't make any difference.

A change in the information they are working from would.

Assuming that you were not the person they were looking for (and it is possible that you were) they should update the intelligence they were working from. That may not happen, depending on what the information was and whether finding you driving the car and being the new owner made any difference. If you see what I mean?!

An email to your local Police Chief (Commander?) stating that you were stopped, that you believe it was due to out-of-date information on the ANPR database, and could they take appropriate action, please, might help.
But they are unlikely to confirm the vehicle has been removed from the database or tell you what the information was.

Cheers

 

[glojo]

Hi Flash and Swiss Toni,
I have never been a fan of e-mail as a form of official correspondence, but that might be just me.

The way I see this is that there is information on the Police National Computer that is possibly out of date? You have bought the CL, the V5 has been sent to the DVLA to be revised with your details. It would therefore follow on that by buying a cherished number you are merely sending the V5 back to the DVLA, they will already be putting your name down as the registered keeper?

Writing to the Chief Superintendent of your local Police Station will certainly do no harm. The Police might inform you that there records have been updated, OR.......... They might come round and take you away

I would only buy a cherished number if you want it. The DVLA should by now have entered your details on the computer.

Does this ANPR flag up local intelligence?

Regards,
John

 

[Flash]

Cool - I'll make sure that I do that...

I want a private plate on the vehicle now for sure anyway in case the previous owner has "upset" any people...

 

[glojo]

Cool - I'll make sure that I do that...

I want a private plate on the vehicle now for sure anyway in case the previous owner has "upset" any people...

Shrewd move

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Cool - I'll make sure that I do that...

I want a private plate on the vehicle now for sure anyway in case the previous owner has "upset" any people...

Probably a wise move, in case the previous owner y ****d anyone off. Although once you put a private plate on your care you immediately become more visible, so you'll need to take care too

Got any ideas on what type of plate you want?