The smart infrastructure technology company, NOW Wireless has successfully completed a trial with Surrey Police where its AI technology has helped to give the police the ability to spot
‘Ghost’ number plates. These are altered or modified vehicle number plate, designed to look normal to the human eye but be invisible or unreadable to Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras Surrey was experiencing a high volume of ghost plates due to drop-off charging regimes across the region.
The trial, which ran for three hours on a major road in the county, used the Now Wireless provided system to detect ghost plates, with the goal of intercepting and issuing PCNs. Police Control room staff and six traffic officers from Surrey Police were assigned for the trial.
The NOW Wireless SenseTrace AI is a data analytic software that spots and records vehicles displaying ghost number plates using real-time analysis of existing CCTV and ANPR data. The system is able to detect ghost plates by comparing snapshots of captured plates to actual vehicle data.
How it works:
- Capture: Live CCTV/ANPR data streams
- Analyse: AI compares plate data with vehicle records
- Detect: Flags ghost and cloned plates instantly
- Alert: Sends notifications to traffic control teams
- Act: Officers intervene immediately
The trial operation, which took place over a couple of hours in late July, resulted in 16 PCNs being issued and no false positives identified. Police were able to receive a notification with the details of the real number plate, and a description of the vehicle all within 30 seconds.
This enabled the six officers deployed for this operation to intervene straight away, the results being that all vehicles flagged were stopped, the Ghost Plates confiscated, and PCN’s issued.
This comes as the All Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety (APPGTS) has launched a cross-party select committee-style inquiry into vehicle registration plates following calls from MPs and experts who have drawn attention to a brewing crisis in road safety.
Surrey Police are very happy with the outcome of the trial and are looking to deploy numerous units across the County.
Paul Hudson, Project and Sales Manager at NOW Wireless added:
“We are delighted to have developed a system that helps solve a growing problem on UK roads at the moment.”
(Pic: NOW Wireless)
