Naughty Man caught with knife gets suspended sentence thanks to ANPR

An Man from Kettering in the UK was caught with a knife and arrested during a ANPR operation at about 3pm. After his arrest on July 5th, Andrew Shanks has been handed a suspended prison sentence after appearing before Northampton Magistrates’ Court.

Shanks pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article and Magistrates made an order depriving him of his rights to the knife. The costs include 85 pounds and a victim surcharge of 154 pounds plus as part of Shanks punishment, he will have to complete 80 hours of unpaid work.

When Shanks returned to the same court to be sentenced, Magistrates gave him four months in prison but suspended the sentence for twelve months.

An automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system is a camera-based technology that can be used to detect and track vehicles. It can be used for a variety of applications, such as law enforcement, security, and traffic management.

At the time of the operation Chief Inspector Nathan Murray said: “We want to utilise all of our resources as part of this week of action and our ANPR network is a truly invaluable asset in order to bring the fight back to the criminals.

“This operation shows our proactive capability in finding people who would look to use the roads to commit crime.”

A use for ANPR is catching knife criminals. By placing cameras at strategic locations, such as exits to highways, it would be possible to track the movements of vehicles associated with known knife crimes. This information could then be used to target police resources and catch criminals before they can commit more offences.

ANPR is just one tool that can be used in the fight against knife crime. It is not a silver bullet, but it could be a valuable addition to the arsenal of law enforcement agencies.