
Changhua County police trumpet surveillance cameras and vehicle identification system
Police in Changhua County are trumpeting the success of their embrace of traffic cameras. Since 2019, the county has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a growing network of surveillance cameras and a vehicle identification system. They credit the technology for significant reductions in theft and violent crime in the past few years. They’ve even caught hundreds of perpetrators of illegal waste dumping using the system.
Footage from traffic cameras across the county are sent back to a control room, where a police officer carries out comparative analysis.
Chen Kui-pin
Changhua County Police Department
Using all the data from the cloud, sent to our control room, is a big help in investigations.
This “Net in the Sky” combines footage of vehicle license plates and vehicle movements with “Active Pursuit Systems.” Police can check surveillance records anytime, working out the vehicle a criminal is using with footage identification technologies, and tracking its movements. The system can be used on a phone, and identify wanted vehicles on the street, bolstering the capacities of law enforcement.
Chen Kui-pin
Changhua County Police Department
For example, apart from identifying license plates, we can also do real-time tracking, and that can be a great help in pursuing a case.
As the saying goes, “A craftsman needs good tools.” Since 2019, Changhua County Police Department has allocated NT$380 million toward a net of more than 10,000 surveillance cameras across the county. A further NT$243 million was in the 2023 budget for another 1,400 cameras, which will bring the total to 12,190 countywide.
Wang Hui-mei
Changhua County commissioner
This system has a 98% success rate in helping us solve cases.
Police say the cameras have significantly reduced the rates of robbery, muggings, hit-and-runs and street violence. In 2017, there were more than 300 car and scooter thefts, but in 2022, there were just 199, a 30% reduction. Meanwhile, 252 people have been arrested for 144 separate cases of illegal waste dumping. Police are delighted to see environmental crime groups leave the county.
2023-09-05