ANPR in AIP

Slo.: Tehnična pomoč pri vzpostavitvi mobilnega SI ANPR in napredne raziskovalne platforme (AIP)

Applicant

Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia, Police

Duration

18. 12. 2017 – 17. 6. 2019 (18 months, with report on results after 12 months, 17. 6. 2020)

Summary

This technical assistance (TA) covers two different tools supporting operational police work: the first tool will be used for mobile Automated Number Plates Recognition (ANPR). The ANPR tool is composed of three different components (mounted either on the vehicle’s dashboard; installed on the outside of the vehicle; or a handhold solution (MOBILE)), which will be pilot tested according to performance suitability within the part ANPR of the technical Assistance; and the second tool the Advanced Investigation Platform (AIP) for complex electronic data analysis.

The TA overall objective is increasing operational and investigative capacity by introduction of new tools and IT solutions for data gathering and processing to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the SI Police in fight against crime. The AIP platform for investigation and analyses of electronic data will be set up permanently, while the mobile automated number plate recognition (ANPR) will be implemented as a pilot and will serve as indicator for ratio of devices to be procured later on for the SI mobile ANPR system. After its setting up the SI ANPR will be used as complementary data gathering source during police tasks performed with service vehicles covering the whole country. MOBILE devices with document readers and with the mobile application will be a secure way to check vehicles, persons and documents, online and available 24/7, significantly increasing police efficiency in the field.

The AIP platform is designed to search for suspicious patterns in graph theory-based data and will be built on the open source NEO4J database. For this platform, efficient data visualization and dynamic queries in the “Cypher” language will be characteristic. We expect that, based on the information obtained (i.e. financial transactions) the AIP platform will ensure a more efficient investigation of crimes.

Target groups/beneficiaries of the assistance are uniformed and criminal police. Indirect beneficiaries are customs, EU MS LEAs and LEAs from the countries of the WB region.

Objective of the Technical assistance for the SI ANPR and AIP is significant improvement of search capacity, data collection and analysis capabilities. The latter is in line with the overall and operational objectives of the HERCULE III program.

Expected results of the Technical assistance for ANPR and AIP are: mobile ANPR technology procured, recommendations for final SI mobile ANPR system, modern MOBILE handhold ANPR solution developed and implemented, a comprehensive AIP platform will be developed and implemented, and ANPR and AIP users will be trained.

Funding

European Anti-Fraud Office - OLAF, within the 2017 Call for Technical Assistance of the, HERCULE III (2014-2020) Programme.

Total value of the HERCULE III Technical assistance: 575.850,00 EUR

EU Co-financing, OLAF: 80 %

Own contribution: 20 %

Additional information

In 2017, the Slovenian Police applied for Technical Assistance within the HERCULE III program in order to obtain co-funding of an ANPR pilot. The legal base for ANPR within the Law on Police Tasks and Powers entered into force 13. 4. 2017, co-funding was granted later the same year. Consequently, conditions for implementation of the project and its pilot were created.

The same year the Ombudsman prepared and initiated the Constitutional Court procedure for the assessment of the constitutionality for several articles of the Law on Police Tasks and Powers (OJ RS, No. 15/13, 23/15 - p. 10/17), including ANPR with its legal base (paragraph 4 of Article 113, paragraph 2 of Article 123, paragraph 2 of Article 125 and the second indent of the first paragraph of Article 128).

On 17. 7. 2019 the Constitutional Court made public information on its Decision in regard of ANPR (decision in regard of other articles, which have been also included in the same initiative for the assessment of the constitutionality, will be taken at a later stage). This "partial" decision, which repeals the quoted articles (legal frame for ANPR), became valid the next day after its publication in the Official Gazette, No 46/2019, 19. 7. 2019.

The "first phase" of the ANPR project in the AIP (procurement in the installation was completed by 17. 6. 2019), according to the contract, reporting on the use of equipment is obligatory, after 12 months from the completion of the project (17. 6. 2020).

Based on the Decision of the Constitutional Court the Police has no legal base for further use of this equipment. The ANPR equipment was disconnected, disassembled and is in storage until the new legal base will allow its use again.