UK police can now trace stolen and cloned cars across Europe in 10 seconds
Key Points
- UK police have gained access to EU vehicle registration data through the Prüm framework.
- The framework allows number plate checks that previously took days or months to be completed in around 10 seconds.
- The system returns vehicle keeper details and flags stolen vehicles, and is intended to help tackle car theft and cross-border organised crime.
- It launches with the Police Service of Northern Ireland before rolling out UK-wide, and is reciprocal, giving EU authorities access to UK DVLA data.
UK police can now run checks on overseas-registered vehicles and get the results back in around 10 seconds, under an expansion of the UK’s data-sharing arrangement with the European Union.
Officers are now able to carry out number plate checks through the EU’s Prüm data-sharing framework, a process that previously required individual requests to EU Member States and could take days or even months.
Where the system finds a match, it returns the vehicle keeper’s details and other key information, and flags vehicles recorded as stolen.
The government said the capability is intended to help police tackle vehicle theft across the UK, as well as serious and organised crime, including networks involved in moving illegal migrants, drugs and weapons across borders.
The expansion builds on the UK’s existing participation in the Prüm framework, which already allows the sharing of DNA and fingerprint data with European partners. The vehicle data capability will be operational ahead of the second UK-EU Summit in Brussels.
Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones said the change gives British police faster access to vital information and strengthens cooperation with European partners.
“Officers will be able to quickly link vehicles to suspects, spot stolen or cloned cars, and track the movements of smugglers across borders,” she said.
“For criminals, the message is simple: you can’t outrun the law by crossing borders. We will find you and bring you to justice.”
Detective Chief Constable Peter Ayling, National Policing Lead for International Crime at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said access to keeper details of EU-registered vehicles adds to a wider set of capabilities the UK uses to tackle international crime.
“Crime is increasingly a global issue, and a swift and effective approach to exchanging information and intelligence with EU partners is critical for public protection,” he said.
The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners’ joint leads on serious organised crime, Surrey PCC Lisa Townsend and Cumbria PFCC David Allen, said quick access to EU data would help police track the movements of those trafficking people, narcotics and weapons into the UK.
The government pointed to Operation Mobile 3, a two-week coordinated effort involving multiple countries, as evidence of the approach working.
More than 44,000 vehicle checks during the operation led to the recovery of over 350 stolen vehicles and 1,000 vehicle parts, and supported action against organised crime networks, including 17 suspected migrant smugglers.
Vehicle data sharing under the Prüm system will launch with the Police Service of Northern Ireland before rolling out to forces across the UK in the coming weeks.
Notably, the arrangement is reciprocal. Under the deal, EU law enforcement authorities will be able to request access to UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data, which the government said will help ensure criminals fleeing the UK can be identified.
