Private DVLA Car Number plates scan helps capture criminals.
Advanced new technology which scans car number plates helped North Yorkshire Police seize some 500 vehicles and a grand total of £750,000 in drugs, cash and stolen goods in the calendar year 2008.
A small team of just eight officers have been using the Automatic Number Plate Recognition, (ANPR), system to catch criminals who use the county's roads.
The number plate unit have also arrested 272 people and issued 734 court summons against a number of offenders.
Sgt Ian Butler, the team leader said: "We are a small team of officers but have achieved some fantastic results this year with the use of DVLA records of DVLA Car number plates and ANPR."
He added: "The technology available to us means we can target specific vehicles, those drivers found without car insurance are often involved in other criminal activity, and we can check DVLA records of number plates and MOT records.
"Our aim is to disrupt travelling criminals' access to and from North Yorkshire.
"It is noticeable from our figures that out of the 272 people arrested, 208 were from out of the county.
"ANPR and it’s use of the number plate system is a highly effective tool which roots out criminals using the road networks to further their illegal activity. We will continue to use it to its full potential."
An interesting fact is that most criminal activity rarely involves a vehicle that has a personalised number plate.
