License-plate scanners on police cars

[Valuesize]

As usual, to me it's a double edged sword. It's great to get the bad guys sneaking around right under the noses of LE, but at the same time it records and stores EVERYTHING.

Medford police cruiser slips through heavy traffic while four rapid-fire cameras scan 30 license plates a second, checking them against a computer database for warrants, missing persons or car thefts. Without lifting a finger, the officer can get an alert that there might be a problem with the owner of a particular vehicle.

The camera system, which is being rolled out just in Medford, adds to the police technological arsenal, turning squad cars into computerized cockpits. "This is some Dick Tracy stuff," said Medford police Chief Tim George. "This is some pretty cool stuff."

As a patrol car rolls down the streets of Medford, the cameras automatically scan a license plate in a millisecond, checking the number against an internal database that Medford police have started to compile.

"The point is the data will be kept of law-abiding residents and the citizens who work in the city of Medford, and may be kept forever by the Police Department," said David Fidanque, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon.

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll.../107180322

[PonderThis]

I very strongly suspect that our government already uses license readers along all major highways, and is capable of tracking all of our movements in a giant database. I am so sure of it I would bet money.

[Valuesize]

I very strongly suspect that our government already uses license readers along all major highways, and is capable of tracking all of our movements in a giant database. I am so sure of it I would bet money.

I think you're right. Look at all the drug busts made on I-5 during "routine traffic stops."

[PonderThis]

For more reasons than that. The surveillance things we do in this country don't get talked about, but other countries surveillance steps get a lot more news attention. About a decade ago in Japan they solved a major crime, I think it was the group spreading Ricin in subways as I recall, and the group was tracked with license plate scanners installed on all the highways. I figured then they wouldn't be using anything we weren't already all over ourselves, but just weren't talking about it. A decade has gone by since. That's why I would bet money on it now, although you never see this talked about.

[Wonky]

For more reasons than that. The surveillance things we do in this country don't get talked about, but other countries surveillance steps get a lot more news attention. About a decade ago in Japan they solved a major crime, I think it was the group spreading Ricin in subways as I recall, and the group was tracked with license plate scanners installed on all the highways. I figured then they wouldn't be using anything we weren't already all over ourselves, but just weren't talking about it. A decade has gone by since. That's why I would bet money on it now, although you never see this talked about.

Maybe.
They are collecting information. If you are driving a car with a license plate, they already know a lot about you. And the car.

What they DO with this information is a whole different ball game.

I like having good police protection. What tools they need is something I know little about.

Looking forward to the one here who can make the "final judgment".

(And where can I buy one of those cute little devices? I'd like to keep track of Ponder. Forget it: He lives so damn far off the grid he eats squirrel meat with his pinto beans)

[PonderThis]

According to Red the Douglas County Sheriff already keeps an eye on me. I expect that's probably true.

[tvguy]

'Valuesize' pid='125401' dateline='1311010085']
As usual, to me it's a double edged sword. It's great to get the bad guys sneaking around right under the noses of LE, but at the same time it records and stores EVERYTHING.

So what? what is in this everything that you are worried about?

[PonderThis]

You ever read 1984?

[tvguy]

I very strongly suspect that our government already uses license readers along all major highways, and is capable of tracking all of our movements in a giant database. I am so sure of it I would bet money.

I think you're right. Look at all the drug busts made on I-5 during "routine traffic stops."

Or maybe it's because so many of these idiots are speeding and there are so many drugs being transported that the odds of catching some of them are very good.

Besides if you were going to haul drugs up I-5 wouldn't you have a car with a license plate that was legit?

Theses scanners have been around for years. The parking ticket cops use them in many bigger cities to find parked with multiple parking violations. Then they tow or boot the car and force the owner to pay up or lose their car.

[tvguy]

You ever read 1984?

Of course. And I tire of paranoid people referring to a fictional novel any time the police come up with a new tool to enforce the same laws we have always had.

[PonderThis]

if you were going to haul drugs up I-5 wouldn't you have a car with a license plate that was legit?

If I was the gov, whether the license plate was legit or not would only be a starting point. I'd want to know things like, what cars travel to Seattle from Los Angeles at least once a month owned by guys who report less than, oh, say $20,000 in annual income, just for example. Then I'd start playing with the numbers. I'm sure they have guys far more sophisticated than me at work, too.

[Valuesize]

Tracking and storing information on law abiding citizens in their normal days activity is not necessary in my opinion. Storing being the main issue in my mind and why would they want to store it?

[Yeshuah Hamashiach]

It is the nature of the beast.

[hillclimber]

I got pulled over right after crossing Caveman bridge.. The officer told me they had this new machine that scans every license it sees and it caught me. My wifes car had expired tags.. No ticket though..

[tvguy]

if you were going to haul drugs up I-5 wouldn't you have a car with a license plate that was legit?

If I was the gov, whether the license plate was legit or not would only be a starting point. I'd want to know things like, what cars travel to Seattle from Los Angeles at least once a month owned by guys who report less than, oh, say $20,000 in annual income, just for example. Then I'd start playing with the numbers. I'm sure they have guys far more sophisticated than me at work, too.

You are assuming that the cartels use the same mules who carry the drugs and use their own car with the same plate over and over.

I think that for the most they are a LOT smarter than that.

[tvguy]

Tracking and storing information on law abiding citizens in their normal days activity is not necessary in my opinion. Storing being the main issue in my mind and why would they want to store it?

Why would they want to store this info? Well for one thing it could be used to destroy a criminals fake alibi. It could be used to place a suspect at or near the scene of a crime.
It could also be used to prove a suspect was NOT at the scene of a crime.

[PonderThis]

A friend's attorney told her that everyone he defends was caught on their 3rd time. His advice was quit after the 2nd.

[Crone]

A friend's attorney told her that everyone he defends was caught on their 3rd time. His advice was quit after the 2nd.

Good advice, Ponder!
And never do business with someone with a record. They'll sing like a bird in order to get a lighter sentence on their second or third offense.

[broadzilla]

Nothing to hide, don't care...move on...

[Wonky]

Nothing to hide, don't care...move on...

That's how I feel too BZ.
As long as they don't have film of us in the back seat of your car last Saturday night, I don't...