Australian Police Use CarPlay to Automatically Scan License Plates
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Police in Australia are using Apple’s CarPlay in-car infotainment software to display information about drivers, based on surrounding vehicles’ license plates.
CarPlay is an in-vehicle infotainment system that displays iPhone app information on a vehicle’s built-in display (aftermarket devices are also available for use in cars that do not offer CarPlay compatibility), allowing drivers and passengers to easily use apps such as Apple Music or Apple Maps.
Australian law enforcement has used CarPlay for several years to aid in their policing duties. They are now taking it one step further, using the system to display information about drivers and their vehicles by scanning surrounding license plates.
Motorola has published a press release about how the Western Australia Police Force has updated its PSCore mobile app to assist with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR). Australian police vehicles are usually fitted with this system to display information about nearby vehicles, providing a police officer with the vehicle’s history and ownership.
A recent update to Motorola Solutions’ PSCore app, which can handle a wide variety of police information tasks, enables the system to now display data from the ANPR system on the police vehicle’s CarPlay-compatible infotainment display. Previously, a device was required to be installed in the car. Now, the new feature provides police with the same functionality as before, but without the space-consuming installation of brackets and displays in the vehicle.
“Real-time ANPR data helps to ensure that front-line officers are more aware of potential risks and able to make better decisions,” said Superintendent Dean Snashall, Technology Portfolio, WA Police Force. He says the app “helps our officers to document incidents faster and more accurately, freeing more of their time to protect our communities.”
CarPlay ANPR support has already been rolled out to 80+ vehicles in the police force’s fleet.
The Western Australian Police Force has already used the PSCore app with CarPlay for a few years. PSCore has been installed on more than 6,000 mobile devices used by the WA Police Force, where it’s been used to share critical information between officers via a single interface.
The system is a key piece of the WA Police Force’s digital policing strategy, allowing the department to leverage technology to improve productivity while boosting incident awareness and safety for officers and the public.
In April 2022, Motorola Solutions unveiled OneForce Core, based on the PSCore app, which worked with CarPlay. While an officer could use an iPhone or an iPad to enter details of a call or an incident they were involved in, OneForce Core would condense the data to essential points, displaying them on the vehicle’s CarPlay display. Officers could then interact with the app via CarPlay with verbal commands or by tapping the screen.
More enhancements were added in 2024, providing more capabilities for incidents like family violence calls and reports. The new features included automating the publishing of family violence reports to the Department of Communities in real time. This sped up referrals to other related agencies while the police are still at the scene of the incident.
