Statewatch: EU Has Plans for Police to Remotely Stop Cars
A privacy advocacy group is reporting that European police forces are working on a remote stopping system to be fitted to cars at the factory that would allow authorities to deactivate any vehicle. Leaked documents reveal plans to implement the system by 2020. The idea is to eliminate the need for high speed chases or tire-spiking strips. The documents were leaked by Statewatch, a watchdog group dedicated to monitoring police powers, state surveillance and civil liberties in the EU.
The remote stopping project is said to be a priority of the European Network of Law Enforcement Technology Services (ENLETS) – a little known and somewhat secretive branch of a EU working group aimed at enhancing police cooperation across the EU.
The ENLET report, issued from Brussels in December said:
“Cars on the run have proven to be dangerous for citizens. Criminal offenders (from robbery to a simple theft) will take risks to escape after a crime. In most cases the police are unable to chase the criminal due to the lack of efficient means to stop the vehicle safely. This project starts with the knowledge that insufficient tools are available to be used as part of a proportionate response. This project will work on a technological solution that can be a “built in standard” for all cars that enter the European market.”
Other items on ENLETS’ agenda includes improved automatic license plate recognition technology and intelligence sharing. That agenda has reportedly been approved by the EU’s Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security, known as Cosi, and that it has the support of senior British Home Office civil servants and police officers.
More by TTAC Staff
Comments
Join the conversation
What is this, Slashdot?
I'm surprised we didn't seen this tech long ago.
I want to hear from the people who say "If you've got nothing to hide then you have nothing to worry about"
I don't think it's designed for criminals, they'd be the first ones to disengage it. But you'd still have a fleet of cars that could be stopped in an instant and that seems like what they're going for.