Its a little bit more spread than that in the UK currenty:
Private comapnies etc can use ANPR, as long as they buy the kit.
ANPR started when the IRA was bombing london, and it was trialled in the 'ring of steel' around the square mile of central london.
Every force in the UK now has ANPR fitted vehicles - from one of 3 companies generally - PIPS Technology (which is now owned by FS), Genesis, and Honeywell / microbus.
Generally, its only traffic units and specialist teams which have them fitted, and they run through the cars computer terminal. They update with information from the PNC (police National Computer) system, via the TETRA radio / data network. some forces haven't implimented the direct links with the tetra system, and so burn a dvd with info in the morning, and then load it into the car on a daily basis.
Some pro active forces (like Essex police) have intercepting teams, which consist of a few high powered vehicles (mits evos, Subaru impretzas, ford focus ST etc), and a van, which sits on a motoroway bridge, with the ANPR cameras either on tripods, or sticking out of the rear windows. The van has an officer with the anpr kit inside, and he simply shouts the 'hits' over the radio, enabling the cars to be stopped by the rest of the team a few hundred yards down the road.
Government / agencies that use the kits (mobile) are such people as Police, DVLA (road tax people)
The spread of anpr in the UK is huge - now, out of town retail parks have anpr fitted to the entrances / exits of their car parks, which monitor the time you came in, and went out at. If there is a limit of. say. 2 hours at that car park, then the system flags up your 'overstay', and the parking company apply to the driving licence authority for your address details, and send you a charge. These systems dont have any data other than the data it collects, and only parking companies that have been approved can get the owners info from the DVLA.
Shopping centres with large car parks have it fitted - and again, use it for a variety of uses - from 'ive lost my ticket, I dont know how long ive been here', to 'known shoplifter vehicle' etc. They generally keep the licence plate details of the vehicles for anyhting up to 3 months. Ive installed systems which will keep until the hard drive gets full, and it ends up being a 2 terra drive !.
One other use that's growing hugely over here in the UK, is the baliff mobile kit - much like your 'repo' agents, baliffs over here are looking to clamp / boot or sieze vehicles that have unpaid parking tickets against them. The baliffs are privately operated, and usually take a comission on the number of paid tickets. Its not always they find the vehicles at the owners addresses, and so they go around hunting them.
One system in London, operated by just one baliff company, has on average 5600 vehicles 'active' at one time, who are wanted for unpaid parking tickets. For them, its an easy day, as they simply drive the streets. The cameras read every parked car's plate, and if its a match, bingo, they get the clamp out.
I'm really surprised that the US hasn't taken ANPR / ALPR by storm, as the police version flags up sooooooo many small violations, which sometimes end up with huge busts. Is there any reason, or is nobody really pushing it (from a manufacturers point of view)
I remember a funny story of the ex-boss of the Met Police - his ex-car kept being 'pick up' for driving off without paying for petrol as the new owner had not changed the vehicle details :roll: :lol: