At last night’s Board of Selectmen‘s meeting, the town leaders discussed a grant to that would enable the town of Wilton to secure a license plate reader (LPR). They heard from Deputy Police Chief Robert Crosby, who explained that the State of CT’s Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection’s (DESPP) Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) will be giving all the towns of within region one money to enable each town to obtain an LPR.
The grant is $18,000 which would cover 100 percent of the cost of the LPR, according to Crosby.
“A license plate reader is, some of the police cars you may see them, they look like cameras on the back of police cars. As the car is driving along, the reader is looking at license plates and running them through so the officer doesn’t have to type them in, and obviously the officer cannot do it as quickly as the computer can do it. What the computer is looking for is missing persons, wanted persons, unregistered vehicles, uninsured vehicles, anything that’s put into our only CT system. We make many stops using them.”
Crosby also noted that the system could be integrated with other towns within region one, so that if Wilton were to be searching for a particular license plate, all other towns in the region would be notified automatically. “There’s a slew of things we could do with it, and it’s quite an asset for a town to have,” he added.
In response to a question from selectman Richard Dubow, Crosby confirmed that the system collects data constantly, adding that the department would follow whatever Federal standards are currently set. The two obliquely discussed “issues” some opponents have raised about use of LPRs, suggesting that privacy violation is a concern.
The grant only covers the first year. While the town isn’t obligated to renew the contract with DESPP, Wilton would have to return the LPR if they opt not to renew. “I don’t know if we’d want to give it back,” Crosby said. “It helps us catch the people we want to catch.”
The three selectmen present at the meeting–Jim Saxe, Hal Clark and Dubow–all voted to approve Wilton accepting the grant and using the LPR.
Why? Have we not had enough of a surveillance state?
It has been reported that Newington, a community of 600,000, has tested the automated license plate readers and compiled over 600,000 scans that resulted in under 900 arrests of which 839 were motor vehicle related and 28 deemed “criminal arrests” that includes DUI, outstanding warrants, traffic violations. The reporting does not say how many traffic stops or “hits” were made. For that matter the reporting did not show that a “hit” resulted in any immediate action.
As “law enforcement” collects an unlimited number of data points on the movement of motor vehicles and people, what does that mean?