Cutting crime with road cameras

We want London to be the safest big city in the world. One way we can do this is to use the best available technology to help cut crime and bring more offenders to justice.

The Met Police already use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) data to help keep London safe. They use it to investigate and solve crimes, and to stop vehicles that have been linked to crime. However, the Met Police's ANPR camera coverage in London is patchy. Better coverage would make London safer.

If London’s police also had access to Transport for London (TfL)’s 1,300 ANPR cameras, it would triple their level of coverage. These cameras are currently used to enforce the capital’s congestion and low emission charges. They could also be used to solve and prevent crime.

Over the past twelve months we have been testing this approach. We now have robust evidence that giving the Met Police access to TfL’s cameras would help prevent crime and improve detection rates. We have also gathered strong public support for this proposal.

Why we believe it would be good for London

Giving the Met Police full access to TfL’s ANPR cameras would:

• help the police make London even safer by allowing the Met Police to detect more crime, act more swiftly and build stronger cases against criminals
• stop criminals using London’s roads by making it more likely criminals will be detected and or stopped
• save money as it would cost the Met Police almost £32 million to build the equivalent ANPR camera coverage. They will also save time and resources finding criminals or collecting camera footage from third parties.

Protecting personal data

In his 2012 Crime Manifesto, the Mayor promised that ANPR data would be used across London to help the police find vehicles linked to crime. He also promised that this change would not create a Big Brother state. The Met Police would only use the data to protect the capital from crime.

This data will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act. The Met Police will follow their own strict guidelines to manage London’s ANPR data.

If the Met Police share any data with the national ANPR database, there are strict national guidelines.

The Met Police will produce a full Privacy Impact Assessment for this project which will look in detail at all possible issues and how they will be solved. This will be informed by the public’s views and a final version will be published in spring 2014. View a Draft policy summary.