A device that would enable police to stop vehicles remotely is being considered by an EU-wide official working group, it has emerged. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25961096
The feasibility of such technology is being examined by members of the European Network of Law Enforcement Technology Services (Enlets).
The technology could impact on both road safety and civil liberties.
The BBC understands it would take several years for any such technical proposal to be drafted.
One EU document, from 4 December, sets out the Enlets 2014-20 work programme as including: “Remote Stopping Vehicles”.
It says “this project will work on a technological solution that can be a ‘build in standard’ for all cars that enter the European market”. It is not clear what cost implications that would have for car makers.
The work of Enlets is little known and has emerged in part through documents published by the civil liberties campaign group Statewatch.
So far there is no technical specification for the type of device that police forces may eventually use.
Enlets is part of the EU Council’s Law Enforcement Working Party – an intergovernmental body helping police to fight serious and organised crime, in part by raising awareness of new technology.
But the BBC understands that the project is at the early stages of looking into feasibility, and that the UK government has no plans at present to install remote stopping devices in private vehicles.