The trouble with crime-fighting automated license plate readers
Eleven years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police need a warrant before a GPS tracking device can be attached to someone’s car.
Eleven years later, police all around the country are tracking cars through license plate readers that do the same job with no warrant required. These license plate readers are mounted alongside roads and on police cars. There is no limit to the imagination as to the places they could be (and are) installed.
The system is considered helpful whenever it catches real criminals, but without regulation, innocent people can suffer from unnecessary surveillance.
The Illinois Northwest Herald questions whether these devices could give law enforcement (or the government) the ability to track innocent citizens as they go to “protests, a church, a bar, a union meeting, a cancer treatment center, a political protest or a therapist?”
Could a family member of a registered citizen be targeted just because their car has to be registered? That is a constant concern for me.
Florida, along with all states, needs to make sure that this particular tool used by law enforcement is closely regulated so that no rogue officer can misuse it.
It is funny that this article is here couple of years ago here in Martin County a friend of mine, took a vehicle of mine or used it and went to a house on the road where they were kids actually a family member, and when questioned by the officer that I know well he brought up that a license plate reader had picked up my vehicle in front of this address I wanna know why that would be that maybe I was there well it was several explanations one it was not me two I own the property. It is a rental property, so yeah it’s it’s kind of weird how that whole situation works.
Glad FAC made this post. Orlando PD uses these devices in their cars. I have been followed around the city many times. The office was so obvious on one occasion that I drove to his headquarters with him following and I filed a complaint. The Sgt and Lt over internal affairs confirmed my suspicion —that the officer’s only reason to follow me around town was because I am on the registry and their bell sounded as their on board computer scanned my tag. The officer had no probable cause to stop me, so he just followed me hoping to find a reason. No violation of department policy, so nothing else happened.
‘It is the single greatest law enforcement tool’:
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/amp/article/news/local/it-is-the-single-greatest-law-enforcement-tool-st-johns-county-sheriffs-office-explains-use-of-license-plate-readers/77-ece6666c-7b81-445c-97e1-af45c1796e9e
I remember hearing on the news when they started putting those speed cameras up in England that people climbed the poles and set them on fire.
The police where I live – in California – have ALPRs. I was curious, so I requested 6 months worth of records of my car and license plate. Boringly, all the pics were either of my car parked on the street in front of my house or parked iny driveway. (Nope, not my car at a grocery store, at a mall, or even at my job….. just at home.)
(INext time they want to conduct a Compliance Check, I’ll just tell them check their ALPR records!)
I frequently loan one of my cars to my daughter…who was the ‘victim’ 24 years ago. We resolved the situation years ago and she and her family have moved to Florida…we get along just fine…without law enforcement involvement. Could she be stopped because of ‘license plate’ readers? How much of today’s law enforcement is supported by monitoring old, bygone crimes while crimes run rampant in today’s world?
“In Alabama, Troy University installed license plate readers this month at all campus entrances and exits that alert campus police when registered sex offenders or those with felony warrants show up.”
The term Police State is getting waaaaay too close for comfort.
You have a good point. The federal government is worried about TikTok being evasive and intruding on privacy but yet they are trying to be more so by allowing states to follow these procedures.
Another variation on a theme cops do is “Fog reveal” that collects metadata from the geo-location on one’s cell phone. They’re basically tracking people without a warrant. The authorities claim they can establish “patterns of life” and use that in future investigations.
“Pro-active” policing is just a euphemism for
circumventing the constitution If the cops can’t find a loophole, they will create one while closing all of ours.
No regulation will stop these kinds of systems from being abused. it would be more effective to call it what it is – unauthorized surveillance – and bar any information gleaned from its use from being used as evidence. And to authorize a civil penalty if the information is disclosed or published.
Yes, very scary! Just driving one’s own car puts you in jeopardy for doing nothing!
With all the technology out there, nothing surprises me any more, except for one thing. Whenever I go grocery shopping I always use cash. I only use my debit card at ATMs to get cash, and I don’t use credit cards. I normally shop at Kroger, but on occasion I might go to my local Meijer just for a change, maybe once a month. At the checkout, I only pay with cash. I don’t have any kind of rewards card or anything like that. A couple weeks later, I’ll get a book of coupons in the mail from Meijer with my name and address on the envelope, and the coupons are for the exact same items I had just bought. I thought maybe it was just a fluke, so a month ago I bought some completely different items that I’ve never bought before, and sure enough just yesterday I get coupons in the mail for those exact items/
My question is, if I’ve never given my name and address to anyone at my local Meijer, and always pay with cash, instead of a debit or credit card which could easily discern my identity, how the hell does Meijer know what I’m buying and where I live?
Have two experiences with ALPR’s.
Good friends of our’s from out of town borrowed our vehicle for the weekend.
While they were downtown at a local Irish pub the local PD drove by and the reader tripped on our vehicle. When our friends returned to the car to come home 2 patrol cars pulled up and blocked the exit. The officers told them they had to call me at home to verify and then made them wait for an additional 20+ minutes to leave. To make sure I wasn’t hiding in the bushes I guess. The pub was located within the one of the county “exclusion zones”.
The second occurrence was by a good friend. He was based in Jacksonville but in Ft. Pierce for business. The second night they were there there was a loud banging on their hotel room door with the announcement “Ft. Pierce Police Department. Open the door immediately or we will enter the room by force”. My buddy told them that he was opening the door as soon as his girlfriend got dressed. He opened the door immediately though when he heard the officers prep to barge in.
Both my buddy and his girlfriend had to sit on the floor for about 40 minutes while the PD verified his travel permit and then made him verify that his customer was based in Ft. Pierce.
His attorney later requested all the paperwork from the incident from the PD. In that file it clearly said that his presence was clearly indicated by their ALPR system earlier the day before.
When it was flagged a second time in the same day the PD then tracked him down.
As I have read today’s many FAC commentaries I can’t help but wonder if today’s law enforcement techniques don’t come from the Gestapo/KGB playbook?
@ Capt. Munsey:
Don’t forget CSI and Law and Order: SVU.