“Why are you taking pictures of my car?” Police officers in Luxembourg may appear to be photographing cars from time to time, but what are they really doing? We explain this seemingly odd practice.

The Grand Ducal police announced in a recent publication that they had returned to a regular practice which tends to provoke questions from motorists during checks. When a police officer aims their mobile phone at a vehicle, it may seem as though they are photographing it, but instead, officers' smartphones are often used to scan the licence plate.

A secure app on service devices permits officers to immediately carry out checks on a vehicle on the spot, rather than communicating data via radio to their headquarters. Previously, these procedures were carried out remotely and involved the central office manually searching for the information and communicating it to patrols on the ground.

Law enforcement officials said this new, modern and fast method allows patrols to save time and avoid unnecessary procedures, as well as helping to free up other services to concentrate on other tasks.

In addition, certain situations require taking photographs of a vehicle, such as a wrecked car in an accident, in order to document the damage or the entire scene.