Dutch police increasingly use highway cameras to catch criminals

The Dutch police's National Unit is increasingly using highway cameras to help gather evidence against roaming criminals, police chief Harry Dahles said in an interview with newspaper AD on Monday.

This police action is called 'license plate of the week'. Each week the National Unit picks one license plate connected to a suspect or a group of suspects to focus on. The car is then tracked and watched through cameras on the Dutch highways. Once there are enough suspicions, the car is stopped and searched. The police often pick a license plate linked to groups of criminals who cause problems in multiple areas.

According to Dahles, the new detection method is effective. "It's right eight out of ten times", he said to the newspaper. The intention is that this method will soon be used by all police units, so that the police can get a better view on more criminals more easily.