More than 300 people wanted by police in Merseyside have been arrested over the space of 24 hours.

About 200 officers were involved in the operation to take 303 wanted men and women into custody under Merseyside Police's "total policing initiative".

Arrests were made for offences such as robbery, assault, burglary, and the supply of controlled drugs.

Officers seized 1kg of what is thought to be amphetamine during raids, along with 10 vehicles.

Whats wrong with the using current ANPR system and face-recognition technologies that are currently being deployed in major cities, to monitor, target and catch criminals??

The government has far too much data on us already, there is very little in the way of privacy. Another system wont actually make any difference. As you say, most peoples personal data has already been lost thanks to all the crap that went on last year.

FYI, every single persons car details are already available to just about anyone from the DVLA for £2.50 a pop if you claim to be a debt collector etc... which imho, is a far more serious issue than ANPR and similar systems being used to catch criminals.

If you privacy warriors had you're own way, we wouldn't have any sort of databases, no sex offenders register, no criminal records bearau, no vat or company records, no employment records etc, because they are all a risk to a persons privacy and open to misuse; in other words, we would all be living in the dark ages.

The UK is getting far too keen about hanging on to data. Look at the DNA database, for example. Putting criminals on to it is one thing, but people who aren't convicted should be able to have their records removed - and the suggestion that I read that this can't be done is absolute bull.

1) Anyone who says *all* databases are a *good* thing is wrong.

2) Anyone who says *all* databases are a *bad* thing is wrong.

3) For any new database, you need to weigh up the benefits from having that database against the downside of same, which can include privacy concerns, problems caused by data abuse or loss, problems caused by corrupted data, and so on.

Again, once you have the database, the police may as well use the collected data. You've got the (IMO) downside, you may as well have the benefits. What frightens me is the extent to which the UK seems to have gone down the road to a surveillance society, without any effective protest (judging protest by my reading of various British news websites).

I actually have less problem with the DVLA route to finding out a driver's details than I do with a system which is monitoring everyone indiscriminately.

THAT'S what I'm arguing against - the routine collection of records on people who have committed no offence. IMO, the benefits from these ANPR systems don't outweigh the cost to civil liberties and the potential for abuse.

Im all for a mass DNA database to made available to the police and prosecution service; Again, it "may" be open to abuse, although it would be hard to actually find a way to abuse it.

However, there are so many cases, where the police have DNA evidence to relate to the crime, but no match on the database.

Only a few weeks ago on ITV Nightwatch, it showed the story of how a man raped multiple women in the late 80's and early 90's, and was never found. The police had DNA evidence on him, but were never able to match it against the database. Then he was arrested last year for something stupid, and they took his DNA. The DNA was matched to the man wanted for the rapes and he was quickly arrested and charged for some of the rapes. 20 years on, he had become a respectable businessman, with a family, and he was now in his 40's, yet thanks to DNA, his dark history was finally uncovered.

If someone committed a serious crime against someone I know, and the police had vital DNA evidence, but no match on the database, I would be campaigning for them to start compiling a database of everyones DNA.

As I always say, if we have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear.

The fact that ANPR has assisted the police to removed 300+ criminals off the streets of Merseyside in just 24 hours, demonstrates to me, that use of databases for fighting crime, is far more important than the slight (albeit very real) risk of misuse and abuse of that database.

Yes, it does frighten most people; but not half as much as the scum who commit crimes of all kinds, frighten people. Id rather be watched by CCTV for instance, than feel completely alone on a night out in a big city with allsorts of opportunities then presented to criminals. CCTV does act as both a deterrent and crime solving tool, there is no getting away from that fact. Some crimes can never be deterred or caught by CCTV, but these are few and far between when there is a CCTV camera present.

Huh? So you feel any organisation, who by law you have to give you're details to, should be able to sell them details on to any 3rd party that wants them, so long as it is making money, but you have less support for a crime fighting database such as a national DNA database??

I understand what you are trying to say here, but honestly, crime is becoming so rife and the crimes themselves are becoming so bad in the US, that we are now having to resort to these measures... partly because we are part of the shitty EU and criminals have more rights than anyone in the EU and partly because our prison service are at breaking point and criminals do not fear the overstretched police forces.

Anything that helps to fight crime, im all for.

Any other type of database, I have to think long and hard before I can make a decision on whether I like it or not. Crime is a MASSIVE issue in the UK right now, and the ANPR system is contantly proving its worth to the people affected by crime, and whilst it does that, I don't see how anyone can argue with its use.

There are other databases of course, which should be argued with, other databases which should be more locked down and less suceptible to abuse, but yesterday, 300 criminals were taken off the streets as a bonus of using the database and that is a good thing. 250+ of them will probably be back on the streets today, thanks to our entire justice system being stretched to the limit and the government enforcing stupid rules on the CPS, but that is another story altogether!!

So brian..relax and stop being quite so paranoid..its not all bad...just remember im watching you!

Some very good points raised by matt, Brian and Auditastic.

<...>

Its when you know what these databases can hold about you
or your friends or family you hope and pray the info is correct,
watch dog only showed last week how there were people who had
criminal checks done against them only to find they had convictions against them they had never committed.

They have been corrected now, but they all wondered how
many jobs or opportunities had been lost due to these mistakes.

A violent rapist has been jailed for 15 years after admitting a string of sex attacks in Hampshire dating back to 1990.

Derek Young admitted raping a 14-year-old girl at Southampton Sports Centre in 1994 and attempting to rape a 19-year-old woman in Southsea in 1990.

The 52-year-old, of Portsmouth, also admitted indecently assaulting a woman in Victoria Park, Portsmouth, in 1993.

Young was arrested in March after a review, and advances in DNA techniques.

The investigation had featured on BBC's Crimewatch programme in December 2007.

Young was arrested by Hampshire police and convicted of theft in 1995 but at the time officers did not have to routinely take a DNA sample.

Det Chief Insp Rachel Farrell, of Hampshire Constabulary, said: "We had a DNA profile but the offender was not on the database - so we had to go out through conventional means and through a mass public press appeal to try to identify who this person could be.

All right, I know I said I wouldn't post again in this thread, but this story is more than I can stand...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7409593.stm

Interesting to note that your favoured Tories seem to have reservations about it, Matt. The Lib Dems too, and even more so with them, it seems.

And Matt - no more straw men about what I am and am not in favour of **when I've already said the exact opposite** right here in this thread, OK? I *agree* with you that a national DNA database would mean that this particular rapist would have been caught earlier. I just don't think the benefits are worth the cost. That **doesn't** make me in favour of letting rapists go free, or any other piece of bull that you want to dream up and then attribute to me.

And as for all the "I've done nothing wrong, I have nothing to fear" brigade, does the name "Martin Niemoller" mean anything to you all? Do you really want to see a future BNP councillor/MP with access to all your personal data?


Brian.

Did I say I anywhere agreed with the phone call and email database? Because I don't, and that to me is a step too far.

Simple; DNA isnt an invasion of privacy whereas monitoring and replaying phone calls and emails is. It is also open to far more abuse, and the system is more likely to be hacked for criminal gain.