The Danish police is planning to implement a nationwide automatic number plate recognition (ANPR/LPR) system over the next couple of years. The Danish newspaper Berlingske obtained the project description for the IT system through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and reported about the ANPR plans.

The ANPR system will consist of mobile units in police cars and handheld devices. The units are designed to automatically register all number plates encountered on the road.

The number plates are checked against a pre-compiled hotlist, for example because the vehicle or number plate is reported stolen, or because the owner has skipped a mandatory inspection of the vehicle.

If there is a match on the hotlist, the police officers will get a signal from the ANPR device, so that they can decide whether to pursue the vehicle or not.

However, the mobile ANPR units will also store all number plates that are scanned, together with the location.

Additionally, the system will store the number plates of all cars that pass the unit since no immediate police action is possible in case of a match on the hotlist.

The Danish police has studied ANPR systems in other European countries, but the United Kingdom is mentioned as the main inspiration for the Danish system.

During a test period, a Danish police car equipped with ANPR was able to register about 50,000 cars in a single month, with a “hit rate” on the hotlist of 2%.