Over 900 vehicles stopped and 58 arrests made
Police from six forces used data from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau’s database (MID) last week in a highly successful operation against criminals.
Operation Utah, which ran for five days across the South West and Wales, involved more than 200 police officers to target illegal drivers.
Using ANPR technology which scans vehicle number plates, over 900 vehicles were stopped, 58 arrests were made, and 156 vehicles were seized.
A key factor behind the success of such operations is the MID, which contains the details of over 35m insured vehicles, and which is always available to the police across the UK.
The MID is accessed by the police every second, day and night, and it has become indispensable in the fight against uninsured driving. Using MID data, the police seize one vehicle every three minutes.
In 2007, 150,000 uninsured vehicles were seized, with 40% of them ending up crushed.
The MIB has now become a major partnership agency in helping the police deny criminals the use of the roads.
While searching stopped vehicles during Operation Utah, the police found several supplies of Class A drugs, along with weapons and ammunition (including a rocket launcher).
