Joe Duggan (Reporter)
CAR thieves and crooks are being targeted by a new Guardia Civil vehicle control system.
The SIAM (Sistema de Identificación Automático de Matrículas) device, which has been installed in La Linea, Algeciras, Almería, Cádiz, Málaga, Motril and Tarifa, can detect if a vehicle is stolen, has false number plates or is spray-painted.
The video system can also identify, with 98% accuracy, the registration of any car, even it is travelling as fast as 180kph.
Brilliant! It is, of course, a fixed camera system so by the time they’ve logged the car as stolen, it’s 100 kilometres away with a new colour and number plate. The UK have had automatic number plate recognition in police cars for years now, linked to insurance company databases as well – I wonder when Spain will catch up!