2023-06-12 14:44:55
Canton of Bern
License plate “scanners” to find wanted vehicles
After a conclusive pilot project, the Bernese cantonal police announces that 20 automated vehicle search facilities will soon be set up in the canton.
Published
Permanent video traffic monitoring or speed checks are not part of the scope (illustrative image).
Getty Images/iStockphoto
Since December 2021, as part of a pilot project, the Bernese cantonal police have been operating three fixed systems – which could be similar to scanners capable of recognizing license plates – for the targeted and automated identification of vehicles during concrete research mandates. Now closed, the test turned out to be positive (see box). The Bernese cantonal police announced on Monday that it “will acquire 20 additional fixed installations which will be put into service between mid-June and the end of 2023”, on the basis of the provisions currently in force of the law on the police.
The three test installations, the 20 new ones and the seven existing ones, which are mostly mounted in service vehicles, “are used in the context of concrete search warrants and as a supplementary measure when searching for missing persons on the entire cantonal territory”, specifies the Bernese police. It should be noted that the scope of application for specific search warrants is limited to the offenses referred to in the provisions of article 269, paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The police finally add that “permanent video surveillance of traffic or speed checks are not part of the scope”. In addition, data recording is limited exclusively to identified vehicles that are the subject of a report. The data protection officer of the canton of Bern was also consulted upstream of the project, in order to verify compliance with data protection legislation.
In a year and a half, “the experiments have shown that it is possible to quickly find the vehicles sought and to react promptly accordingly”, explains the cantonal police. These facilities have thus enabled “150 matches each month, in particular with the Confederation’s search system (Ripol), making it possible to obtain several investigative successes in different areas of offenses, including vehicle theft”, continues the police.
(comm/aze)
1686584397
#Bernese #police #rely #automated #vehicle #search