Over 200 devices added to Estonian police's license plate detection network
The Police and Border Guard Board operates a nationwide network of more than 200 automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, capturing over 20 million images of vehicles each month, according to Eesti Ekspress.
In the early 2010s, the number plate recognition cameras installed on Estonia's borders were legalized, and since then the system has gradually expanded, municipality by municipality, quietly becoming embedded in Estonia's legal framework.
According to Urmet Tambre, head of the Northern Prefecture's Criminal Bureau, the police currently have 250 number plate recognition cameras at their disposal, 228 of which are operational. Most of the cameras are located in Harju, Tartu and Viljandi counties and are typically placed at key intersections or town entrances.
"We primarily use this system for serious investigations and saving lives," said Roger Kumm, head of the Prevention and Criminal Proceedings Bureau at the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), referring to the camera network.
The cameras are often installed in agreement with local governments, with the initiative coming from either side. Typically, the cameras are purchased using municipal funds.
However, a camera network of this scale — one that can, for instance, log when a car leaves Tallinn and arrives in Tartu or elsewhere — has never been publicly debated in Estonia, either in society or at the level of the Riigikogu. Nor is such a system mentioned in any law.
Attorney-at-law and member of the government's traffic commission Indrek Sirk supports the principle of average speed monitoring, but he believes it is essential to clearly define the rules under which license plates are photographed, as well as how data is deleted for vehicles that are not found to have exceeded the speed limit when they reach a second camera.
Police officials Kumm and Tambre also say they are open to a public discussion on the issue of surveillance cameras.
Among the politicians who spoke with Eesti Ekspress, Justice Minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta (Eesti 200) took the clearest position. While she does not rule out the legitimacy of such a system, she emphasized that people must have a say in whether such measures are implemented.
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Editor: Mirjam Mäekivi, Marcus Turovski
