License plate reader is new crimefighting tool

It's a gadget straight out of science fiction, but there's nothing fictional about the criminals and stolen vehicles police have caught with it.

[ppa]

the thing that sucks about this is that you could use to catch people who have not paid parking tickets. watch. soon you will start seeing boots on cars. here comes those towing fees

[Bye Bye problem people]

ppa wrote:

the thing that sucks about this is that you could use to catch people who have not paid parking tickets. watch. soon you will start seeing boots on cars. here comes those towing fees

well if one isnt ignorant and doesnt ignore the signs about parking rules they would NOT get parking tickets. But if someone is dumb enough to rack up tickets and not worry about paying them then bye bye car! less problem drivers on the road for those of us whom DO follow rules.

[Greg]

Yep, more taxpayers dollars to make the police mans job a little more cushy! Laziness is becoming rampid in our police departments. This is another tool to strip our citizens of their freedom here in Iraq, I mean America. Sometimes I forget where I am because it seems so barbaric like in Iraq. Dictators here and there. KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY FREEDOM!

[Question Mark]

I wonder if Victorville has any of those camera cars yet ???

[GOOD TOOLL]

The good citizens can rest at night feeling a bit safer that something more is being done to stop crime. The trouble-makers (and you can probably tell who they are from the comments of some) are the ones who have to worry about another good police crime fighting tool.

[Freedom]

I don't have a problem being scanned, as I've committed no crime. But why do they need to store the data? That's pure "big brother". The fact that I drove through an intersection in 2006 isn't anyone's business but my own. By storing the data, you can bet it becomes a research tool, which can be used t invade our privacy. I just visited the website of the company which makes these devices. They actually say that it can be used to record the plates of all cars which "belong in a certain area" and then notify someone when a strange car appears. That's invasion of privacy!

[Don]

I love how some people think an advance in technology equates to laziness. Maybe they have something to hide? The police can already call in any plate they want at any time. This just automates it. What if they were able to stop a stolen car on the way to commit some other major crime?

So how would you all feel about a business that uses this stuff?

[PrayerAngel]

Kudos to the police dept for spending the funds on this new equipment...if it assists them in doing their job faster and more efficiently then more power to them...as far as anyone having a privacy invasion issue, if you aren't a criminal and don't have any tickets that you didn't pay for then there shouldn't be a problem....sometimes people have to give up a little of their freedoms so that they can be safer in the long run...BTW, when you are out in public, privacy is no longer an issue so there can be no invasion of it...

[Jeremiah Price]

Not a word about how it raises revenue for the county by catching expired registrations and the uninsured which is the real reason they got them.

Jeremiah

[Freedom]

CSU Fullerton also uses this system, in their campus parking lots. Yeah, we know that the CSU campuses are hotbeds of criminal activity! All those tuition paying students are actually driving without a valid registration?*Laugh* Give us a break!

How long before red light camera intersections add this "feature" all in the name of generating increased revenue?

[crimeboss]

OK, once and for all - There is no "invasion of privacy" in PUBLIC places THAT'S THE LAW! Legally an officer may run as many license plates as they want in public places without any reason because there is no violation of the due process clause of the Constituion to do this.

[Professor X]

@Crimeboss: It's not the checking that is the big problem here, it is the storing of the information. I maybe don't love the idea of supermarkets and casinos keeping track of what specific things I spend money on, etc., but they aren't the government.

@PrayerAngel: This brings us to your argument. I'm not a criminal, and don't have anything secret to hide, but that doesn't mean I should consent to have my car searched every time I get a ticket, drive past a checkpoint, or get selected for random screening on the street. The police have to have a warrant, or probable cause that a crime is being committed right then, before they can do that. I think that keeping track of my movements should be in the same category as that.

@Freedom: If that would keep students out of faculty parking, well, I gotta say... but you do raise an excellent point about intersections. It might cost too much this year, but 2-5 years down the road...

[crimeboss]

Professor X: I work for a local police agency. The reason for the data storage is if a crime such as a burglary or robbery happens and the victim reports the suspects left for example in a Red Chevy Tahoe, you could go back to your license plate data base for that day, or even within just a few minutes of the crime and research if any Chevy Tahoes passed a police unit within the time frame of the crime.

All data accessing we do is tracked, documented, monitored and can be reviewed at any time by officials.

[Putin_Tane]

Cool stuff - I work in the IT field - more Storage subsystems needed to store this data - Sweet -$$-
Now if they could use this to identify Illegal Aliens and enforce OUR Immigration Laws

[Felipe]

There should be no licensing of cars, guns, or dogs. It all represents excessive gov't intervention into our lives and infringes on private property rights. One should not have to pay for and maintain a license to own property. Property taxes are equally wrong. One should not have to pay the gov't for the privelege of owning property. We have given up too many rights and freedoms and need to return to founding principles, chief among them liberty. We are like the frog slowly being boiled...

[Vern]

1984 arrived for me about 15 years ago after taking a leisurely drive to Lake Arrowhead. The following week I received a card in the mail from Cal Trans inquiring how we enjoyed the scenery and what I thought of the condition of the roads. This is not the beginning....this is the continuation..........

[PrayerAngel]

Professor X: don't know what kind of professor you are but you are way off base....a person's constitutional right of privacy ends when you walk out of your door...once you are in public, that includes your vehicle you are fair game...the license plate is on the outside of your car, not the inside...they don't need consent or a warrant to run the plate and get the info....they also don't need a warrant to keep the info that is gathered as a result of it...if that were the case the police would never be able to prove up any of their cases....so far, the constitutional challenges regarding these issues have not found that this violates anyone's right of privacy whatsoever....it is just another tool that makes their job easier than going through a dispatcher and waiting for the results....those same results are also KEPT as evidence as well....in addition, private citizens have video of the outside of their businesses and residences that are KEPT and used by law enforcement as well...it has been found that this is not an invasion of anyone's privacy...finally, cities have installed video surveillance in high crimes areas outside and have maintained those tapes for purposes of criminal investigation....sorry, but all of these examples have been found to be consititutionally sound and doesn't violate the right of privacy whatsoever so don't let some attorney waste your money challenging them because you will be sending down a dark well...

[Willy]

Lets see, the cars are in public, not locked up in a private garage where anyone can see the car. The observations are made from a public area where the cops have the right to be, so where is the violation of privacy? The cop drives down the street, sees a plate and runs it, sits the and waits for the return. Whats the difference if he gets on his radio or if he uses the new system. It can't look into a home or garage so to me there is no violation of privacy. As to the remark about the cops being lazy, it seems to me that it makes them more efficient. They can cover more area to look for more stolen cars, and yes people that have outstanding fines or warrants. I would say to those who say that they are concerned about this, not the usual nut bags that write their loony crap just to get a rise out of the rest of us, what would you say if the system recovered your stolen car was located,or a register sex offender that failed to register. The list could go on, on the benefits that this system has.

[Mike H]

I approve of this technology. I do not feel like my privacy is being invaded when my license plate is scanned by a passing unit. Of course criminals will feel like their privacy is being invaded because they will no longer be able to commit their crimes "privately" if a police officer is in the area.

[Truth]

Dont do bad shit = dont get caught by cameras! Simple really. And if America is soo bad, feel free to take your sorry freeloading ass back to Iraq or mexico or wherever you came from.