9:00am Monday 15th March 2010
By Amie Mulderrig
CRIME AND DISORDER across St Albans has decreased following an operation introduced by Hertfordshire Constabulary and St Albans City and District Council.
Operation Sentinel, launched in March 2009, aims to deter and detect illegal, uninsured drivers and criminals, and to ensure innocent motorists and the wider community are kept safe.
According to results from the operation, St Albans is an even safer place to be, with the number of criminals and unsafe drivers travelling through the city centre down by 19 per cent in the past year.
While traffic volume has stayed the same, the number of vehicles highlighted by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, has also decreased.
Crime across St Albans has fallen by just under ten per cent this year between April 2009 and February 2010, compared to the same period the year before.
St Albans Chief Inspector Richard Hann said: "We work closely with our partners, local businesses and residents in a number of ways to continue to keep St Albans a safe place to be, which includes regular ANPR operations.
"It has proved to be a valuable addition to modern-day policing and, as these results suggest, can be effective both as a deterrent to criminals and as a way of stopping anyone tempted to come into the area who is linked to crime or is driving a dangerous and uninsured vehicle.
"I'd like to reassure our law-abiding residents and motorists that we will continue to make use of ANPR to keep criminals and unsafe drivers out of St Albans."
Councillor Anthony Rowlands, said: “This is an excellent example of what can be achieved and sends out a clear message to those who are linked with criminal activity - they are not welcome, as well as protecting law–abiding residents.”
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.stalbansreview.co.uk/trade_directory/