City to get ANPR system soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of strengthening the security of the capital city, the City Police are planning to launch a new initiative called 'Automatic Number Plate Recognition' (ANPR) system here. The system, according to the police, will function as a gatekeeper. It will record the registration numbers of all motor vehicles that enter and exit the city.The system will be installed at major locations that act as entrance/exit points, besides other major sites such as the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple and the Secretariat. City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham told City Express that ANPR is a proven system in foreign countries. It can be used to automatically restrict the entry and exit of vehicles to places like temples and offices. On roads, the system will just be a watchman. ''The City Police have forwarded a proposal to the State Government in this regard. Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple will be the first to get the service of ANPR, followed by the Secretariat and entry/exit points of the city,'' the Commissioner said.Control Room Assistant Commissioner Bijoy said the system will prove very useful once the high security registration number plate system is fully implemented here.  ''The system will help keep a tab on the people who are present in the city at any given point of time which, in turn, might prove helpful in busting crimes,'' he said, referring to the increasing rate of crimes, especially vehicle thefts.The project is being launched as part of the expansion of the City Police Control Room and the work will be carried out by Keltron. According to S T Gopakumar, the project manager of the Communication Wing of Keltron, the ANPR units will be equipped with radar cameras that will work on the technology of closed-circuit television and would be connected to the servers of the City Police Control Room and also the Motor Vehicles Department. ''ANPR is also a good alert system. That is, if the police are on the lookout of a vehicle with a particular registration number, they just need to enter the number into the system.  ANPR will automatically send an alert to the control room when it comes across the vehicle,'' said Gopakumar.