Vic: Police Scan 25,000 Number Plates On Eastern Freeway

Victoria Police this week “threw a BlueNet” over Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway in the latest operation to use its new Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology.

Five of the force’s BlueNet vehicles, equipped with advanced cameras and computers, were joined by roadside systems in ‘Operation Dolus’, involving 12 local and state patrol stations.

Stretching from Hoddle Street in Melbourne to the Peninsula Link in the Victoria’s South East, the operation saw 25,000 number plates scanned and processed in one day.

Two arrests were made during the operation, which also saw 150 infringement notices issued and three vehicles impounded.

Police report that a 28 year-old woman failed a roadside drug test after being pulled over in an unregistered vehicle with two young children on board.

A man was also arrested he was caught riding an allegedly stolen and unregistered motorcycle. The man is also expected to face charges for unlicensed driving.

Operation Dolus forms part of the wider Victoria Police program, ‘Summer Stay’, which includes the following operations:

Operation RAID - state-wide operation targeting drink and drug driving aimed at removing all impaired drivers from the roads - 14 November to 7 December.

Operation Break Up - state-wide operation with a particular focus on distraction and seatbelt offences pre-Christmas - 8 to 22 December, 2014.

Operation Crossroads - nation-wide operation focusing on high risk factors associated with holiday driving during the Christmas/New Year week. Victoria Police will have a particular focus on speeding drivers. This operation will mark the official holiday road toll period and will run from 23 December, 2014 to 3 January, 2015.

Operation Fresh Start - state-wide operation with a particular focus on fatigue with the return of the industrial sector from the holiday break - 4 January, 2014.