Thieves in Linden have been chased away by cameras that recognise number plates, says ADT.
A white Golf was confirmed suspicious by the police after being captured by ADT’s Licence Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras when it entered the suburb on 12 December.
Managing director of ADT central region, Clive Humphrey said once the vehicle was confirmed as suspicious, their control centre immediately alerted the police, Linden Neighbourhood Watch (LNW) and other resources in the area to be on the lookout for it.
“We were notified that the vehicle was seen at Victory Park shopping centre,” Humphrey reported.
“The suspects were obviously aware that they had been spotted because the vehicle left the area within minutes of arriving.
“This vehicle was involved in multiple incidents in Linden, and since they noticed our awareness of them they haven’t been seen in the suburb again.”
He warned that should a vehicle be confirmed as suspicious, it would be stopped, the occupants would be questioned and, if no evidence is found, would be closely monitored until it left the suburb.
“This is very advanced technology which delivers a high-quality image and is linked to the police database of suspicious and stolen vehicles,” Humphrey said.
“The more cameras we install, the tighter the net becomes around criminals in Linden.”
Linden Neighbourhood Watch’s Fareed Hoosen is impressed with the LPR system and recently shared an image of his car captured by one of the cameras.
“A perfect image. This shows exactly how effective the cameras are in identifying a vehicle. A suspicious car can easily be captured and profiled within minutes, and with the resources on the ground, the response is instant,” he said.
ADT aims to secure every entrance into greater Linden with an LPR camera. Nine cameras have been installed over the past six months, and the project is reliant on contributions from the residential and business sectors of greater Linden. All residents in the area benefit from the technology, regardless of their security provider, and are asked to consider contributing towards the initiative.
The LPR project is fully endorsed by the suburb’s neighbourhood watch, Linden Community Association and the Linden police.
Details: Leisl-Mae Fourie leislmaefourie@gmail.com; Stephan Stander sstander.za@adt.co.za
