Technology

Do D.C. Police License Plate Readers Lead to a ‘Surveillance Society’?

If you’ve ever been on a residential Washington, D.C., street at 8 a.m., you’ve probably seen a patrol car cruising slowly past a line of cars. What’s he doing? Scanning their license plates to see if they’re authorized to park in a certain zone. If not, bring on the ticket. But, this technology is being used for so much more and in a recent in-depth feature on these license plate readers by The Washington Post it was revealed just how extensive the District’s system of these cameras really is.

license plate reader

A close up of a license plate reader in use on a Springfield, Illinois, cop car. (Photo: Justin L. Fowler/State Journal-Register)

More than 250 cameras capture 1,800 images a minute in D.C. and surrounding suburbs. These images are kept for varying lengths depending on location — from months to years — and have been used to find stolen cars and identify murderers fleeing scenes of crimes. But, according to the Washington Post, the Washington D.C. Police Department has been quietly expanding this program with little public debate on the databases of images tracking everyday people’s movements.

The Post reports that the District is most heavily armed with these plate readers with more than one installed per square mile, making it the highest density in the country, but the suburbs in the metro area have many as well:

[...] local agencies plan to add many more in coming months, creating a comprehensive dragnet that will include all the approaches into the District.

“It never stops,” said Capt. Kevin Reardon, who runs Arlington County’s plate reader program. “It just gobbles up tag information. One of the big questions is, what do we do with the information?”

Police departments are grappling with how long to store the information and how to balance privacy concerns against the value the data provide to investigators. The data are kept for three years in the District, two years in Alexandria, a year in Prince George’s County and a Maryland state database, and about a month in many other suburban areas.

“That’s quite a large database of innocent people’s comings and goings,” said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst for the American Civil Liberties Union’s technology and liberty program. “The government has no business collecting that kind of information on people without a warrant.”

The ACLU also takes issue with the lack of transparency to the public before systems such as these are implemented. Here’s what the organization writes on their blog:

[...] technologies that have such significant implications for our privacy — and more broadly, what kind of society we want to live in — should not be put in place through what I call “procurement policymaking.” The police should not be able to run out and buy a new technology and put it in place before anybody realizes what’s going on — before society has a chance to discuss and debate it and consider where we want to draw the lines between police power and the freedom to live a private life. That decision is one that should be made through the full, open, democratic process — not quietly and unilaterally by police departments.

[...]

“It has now become clear that this technology, if we do not limit its use, will represent a significant step toward the creation of a surveillance society in the United States,”

Washington DC Is the Densest Area in the Nation for License Plate Readers

Components of tag recognition technology. (Image: The Truth About Cars)

The plate readers are not to be confused with traffic light cameras. These are a whole different ball game, taking photos of each license plate driving by and analyzing it against a database of plate numbers wanted by authorities, the Post reports. As of right now other areas around the country have similar technology, but the District boasts 73 readers at stationary locations or attached to cop cars. But the Post reports officials as saying that someday every cop cruiser will have one.

This YouTube video gives an overview of the technology:

While there are benefits to such technology, such as catching criminals faster, and the D.C. area has a lot of historic buildings and important people to protect, many are concerned of legal implications, which are similar to those recently heard by the Supreme Court over warrantless GPS tracking. The Post continues:

Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University who has been closely watching the Supreme Court case, said the license plate technology probably would pass constitutional muster because there is no reasonable expectation of privacy on public streets.

But, Kerr said, the technology’s silent expansion has allowed the government to know things it couldn’t possibly know before and that the use of such massive amounts of data needs safeguards.

“It’s big brother, and the question is, is it big brother we want, or big brother that we don’t want?” Kerr said. “This technology could be used for good and it could be used for bad. I think we need a conversation about whether and how this technology is used. Who gets the information and when? How long before the information is deleted? All those questions need scrutiny.”

Should someone access the database for something other than a criminal investigation, they could track people doing legal but private things. Having a comprehensive database could mean government access to information about who attended a political event, visited a medical clinic, or went to Alcoholics Anonymous or Planned Parenthood.

According to the Post, each reader costs $20,000 and can capture tags of four lanes of cars going up to 150 mph. Recently, we reported on similar technology that could be used to catch speeders more than one at a time.

[H/T Popular Science]

Comments (134)

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  • MidWestMom
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:18am

    The bottom line fact is that right or wrong, we are all monitored and tracked in one way or another. From license plates to library cards. From birth to death. There is no way to avoid it completely but there are some steps you can take to lessen the amount of data collected.

    Don’t have GPS on your vehicle (OnStar etc). Have it completely removed, not just “shut off”. Or drive an older vehicle that’s not equipped for it.

    Limit your cell phone use. Turn it off. Remove the battery. Or don’t have one at all.

    Don’t shop online unless you absolutely have to. What you bought, how you paid for it and where it was sent will be recorded.

    Pay cash for as much as possible – try not to use debit cards, credit cards or checks. What you purchase is nobody else’s business.

    Keep only the amount of $$ needed to make payments like mortgage, utilities, insurance etc in your bank account. Add to that an “emergency amount” for things like major car repairs if you will be on vacation etc. Withdraw the rest.

    You get the general idea. Think about your daily life, there are many little ways to limit what someone else knows about you.

    Report Post »  
    • MidWestMom
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:24am

      and…one of the most important things: Keep your mouth shut. Use common sense. No need to tell everyone how many guns you have, how much food you keep, how many computers you have, if you hide your money under the mattress etc.

      Report Post »  
    • Unix
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:38am

      1984 was not so far off the mark now was it. Our gov’t has turned against us, it’s time to replace it with new people who care about the Constitution.

      Report Post » Unix  
    • V-MAN MACE
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 10:04am

      What does the author of this story mean when he says “does it lead to a surveillance society”?

      This is my problem with the mainstream media (corporate owned-and-backed perpetrators posing as liberty patriots versus alternative media Infowarrior Liberty Soldiers like Alex Jones. They state the headline as an interrogative when the headline of the article ought to be a declaratory statement. This is intentional in order to create the notion in the public opinion that there is some doubt that 24/7 reading of license plates and other redundant surveillance systems are (in some wacky dimension) NOT ALREADY a surveillance society…AKA… A POLICE STATE.

      No, they’re deliberately posing this as an interrogative in order to avoid directly saying “This is a Police State”. This is how they nudge the Overton Window on you.

      They‘re just irking my nerves on purpose because they know exactly what they’re doing. It‘s like slowly jamming a knife into a restrained person’s chest while asking nice and calmly “Does driving a knife into a restrained person’s chest equal to murder?”- with smug nonchalant hubris and a little internal giggle.

      You make me SICK. Of course this is a damn Police State.

      Now come and get it YOU NAZIS! I got a WHOLE LOTTA WHOOPASS WAITING FOR YOU!

      Report Post » V-MAN MACE  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 10:27am

      Absolutely, it does. But if you think for one moment that this is the only surveillance mode you are under everyday, you are mistaken.

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
    • so3
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 12:26pm

      YEs, and take your stupid NRA stickers off your car. While you may think it shows the folks inside have guns, dont mess with them. The odds say your guns are under your couch, bed on in the closet. Not in a good safe. Never advertise that you have anything anyone else may want.

      Now, about the plate readers

      Report Post »  
    • Pigpen
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 1:49pm

      The police are used to collect REVENUE, they will do nothing to PROTECT you. They are given the equipment they need to collect money from the law abiding. The judges and lawyers will eviscerate ANY police officer who dares to squander precious city/county resources on apprehending those vile criminals who molest children, deal or use drugs, or murder their friends, family, or neighbors. Wake up, my fellow Crackers. Make a NOISE at city hall, and NOT just when you get a ticket. DEMAND that the villains in your local government stop giving legal grafts to their family and friends and start equipping, training, and deploying YOUR police to actually do its job. DON’T become virtual prisoners. TAKE CONTROL! ACT!

      Report Post » Pigpen  
    • Walkabout
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 3:04pm

      so3

      If you have s ticker saying your kid goes to college, some green with envy leftist will key your car.

      Ditto, with any sticker espousing a cause that might be considered conservative (or half of the libertarian) views.

      Report Post »  
  • Smokey_Bojangles
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:07am

    And we are supposed to trust the police?

    Report Post » Smokey_Bojangles  
    • Walkabout
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 2:47pm

      Could you trust them 30 years ago? 100 years ago? 1,000 years ago?

      It is like garbage collection. If the garbage men don’t pick it up it piles up & things get worse.

      There will always be crooked cops. We going to create the Amish equivalent for cops. They have to stay stuck with 20th century technology? We’ll freeze the tech of cops in place. They shouldn‘t have any new technology that wasn’t invented before year 2000.

      Cops get in trouble now for abusing databases. They get fired & or convicted. It is not the cops so much I am worried about. It is the politicians of some party. But if they want to break the laws badly enough, they will do so with or without the cops.

      The ACLU is arguing “herd anonymity” is sacrosanct. It is not. It is only in the last 100 or 100 years that many or most or less people that have been living in large cities. Until then most people lived in villages where everyone knew everyone & what they were up to. So if a crime was committed the local sheriff probably had no problem determining who had‘ dunnit’.

      With 70s technology an expert was already able to track down the Soviet supported, leftist adored Bader-Meinhof terrorist gang thru utility records & such. Look it up.

      The police are not going to look up Joe Q Public, who breaks no laws, day in & day out. It is TMI. IIt might not be salacious, but it will still be TMI. People/Cops only have so much time in their lives they won’t have time to follow mundane

      Report Post »  
    • grayling646
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 3:41pm

      Yes, I trust most of the cops. I use to own a convenience store and dealt with cops a lot. Bad checks, gas drive offs, employee theft or just getting a coffee and snack. Most of them were humble, friendly types just doing their job, supporting their families. I don’t know any who ever put on their uniform with the idea of going on shift just to find someone to arrest. It’s their bosses, the politicians, that I don‘t trust and I don’t trust them any further than I can throw the internet.

      Report Post »  
    • oneshiner
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 7:14pm

      ‘scuse me? About trusting the police! Do you trust all your school teachers who indoctrinate you children on different values? Not to mention how many seem have sex problems. Do you trust your Priests who also seem to have funny uncle values? In this new world of change, there are very few we can actually trust in every way, but the police I know are of high caliber, with a few exceptions.

      In our small town we already have capability to read and check out license plates to see if there are any with warrants against them and other things. The more technology we have the more we lose our personal privacy. I‘m private and don’t like it, but it’s here whether we like it or not.

      Report Post »  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 7:46pm

      saying “It’s here whether we like it or not” is probably the same exact thing the Germans said Pre WW1…

      Report Post »  
    • sWampy
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 10:01am

      I’d really like to see something like this, where it takes the picture, sends it to a trusted 3rd party source that decodes it, runs the checks and returns the results, I really don’t think police need complete lists of every time every car passes with the ability to mine the data for years.

      Of course I’d love to see all guns registered by a group like the NRA, stored off shore where the government couldn’t get to it. But when the police pull someone over with a gun, they could submit the id # and serial number to NRA they could return yes they match, no they don’t. That way, when a gun was used in a crime, we could track down who owned it, but the government couldn’t use the list to go gather up all the guns.

      Report Post »  
  • levelhead53
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:04am

    Several towns in Connecticut now have these cameras. I inquired of a cop what they were – he explained and showed me how these cameras can ‘see’ plates all around the cruiser. I asked how much did the town have to pay for them. He said nothing, that they cost about $60,000 to purchase and set up, and that the town got the money from a FEDERAL GRANT!

    The slippery slope of liberty lost has just gotten steeper and more slippery.

    Report Post »  
    • oneshiner
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 7:20pm

      I’m inclined to agree that much time is given to revenue raisers. But they are there for safety and help too. Heck, many small towns wouldn‘t survive if they didn’t set up traps for speeders, but some of it is intended for safety too. Without enough revenue there would be no police.

      Report Post »  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:05pm

      then you don’t need them…
      Do you strip the carpet off your floor after you’ve cleaned everything in your house just because you have nothing more to clean? where do you stop?

      if the police are losing money because they aren’t needed, then, that is actually a good thing and so be it… that means people aren’t doing criminal activities…

      Report Post »  
    • DoubleThrowDown
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 11:25pm

      If the police in your town have nothing better to do than track you by reading the plates on your car, they maybe your town has to many police running around with nothing better to do than waist tax dollars and burn fuel all day. It’s time for we the people to tell our government to quit waisting our money on programs that take away our liberties and privacy, and then they tell us it is for our safety. I felt safe before they started tracking us, this government is out of control.

      Report Post »  
    • bookofdaniel
      Posted on November 27, 2011 at 12:09am

      I wrote an article about this a few years ago. The article is called; “The United Police States of America”
      One of the biggest things our founding fathers wanted to prevent when they created our constitution was illegal search and seizers. Sounds pretty logical. But if you have been convicted of a crime that law no longer applies to you. This technique of searching ones property is so important to a government that even the good ole USA will not be satisfied until every citizen has a criminal record.

      Report Post »  
    • RadioActive Rob
      Posted on November 27, 2011 at 8:07am

      while they say lots of good things about the system, just remember….

      The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

      Report Post » RadioActive Rob  
    • eternalhostility
      Posted on November 27, 2011 at 10:31pm

      yes but blaze neocon readers will support this as it helps the war on terror or whatever other nonsense guys like lindsey graham say. blaze readers need to decide if they like the constitution or not because their views are all over the place. this is clearly a warrantless search.

      Report Post »  
    • SgtB
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 9:49am

      @ oneshiner…

      Do you really think that small town governments can only survive if they ticket every car coming through their town? Really? Do you know what 50% of people who get out of state or small town tickets do with those tickets? They throw them away because it is more of a hassle for the police to track down and retrieve 50-100 bucks from an individual who lives far away than to just forget about it.

      BTW, isn’t the excuse for traffic tickets to make roadways safer? How can this be if you say that they are set up to pay for small town gov’t and the reality in larger cities is that police cars parked on the side of the highway cause massive congestion eratic driving that causes more accidents. Even when a person is already stopped you still have drivers slamming brakes and performing abrupt lane changes which causes even more danger especially for the officer and civilian who are stopped on the shoulder of the road. Don’t believe me? Just go over to youtube and look up car wrecks during police stops and you’ll find hundreds of videos that prove my point. Or just watch any of the world‘s most amazing police videos and you’ll see incidence after incidence of police officers putting everyone else in greater danger than they were already in.

      If these ever come to my city my neighbors cruiser may be vandalized in his driveway.

      Report Post » SgtB  
  • Daveed
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:04am

    The Attorneys I know have said there is no such thing as justice any more. They should know.

    I can remember when police officers were peace keepers. Now they are enforcers that “produce revenue” for the town, city, county, state and Fed. That in itself makes for a scary premise. We should support our Police Officers until we are given a reason not to.

    So many Attorneys, how would they be able to support themselves unless they had lots of people being arrested and who is going to pay for all the expensive intrusion technology….It is a vicious circle and the taxers tax the taxees more and more and more, the lawmakers keep making more burdensome laws until you will be arrested, fined and imprisoned for sneezing without a Kleenex in public.

    Report Post »  
    • Detroit paperboy
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:19am

      @ daveed
      You are correct, its all about money, they are no longer here to protect and serve, its a racket to produce revenue…. And when the govt. Has a financial incentive to go after its citizens it becomes scarey…. And police dont prevent crime, they investigate it after the fact… Armed citizens prevent crime…. Remember , when seconds count, the police are minutes away !!!

      Report Post »  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on November 27, 2011 at 12:17am

      Exactly Detroit paperboy, Crime is only prevented by the victim. The police are out of hand and it is very scary that they are profiting from the oppression of liberties.

      Report Post »  
    • orionreplay6607
      Posted on November 28, 2011 at 6:00am

      Detroit, Have to agree. I used to think the idea that cops collected more tickets at the end of a month to produce revenue was comical and untrue. But since living I live now, for the past 5 years I have seen no cops speed trapping the long 25MPH road leading into my neighborhood, unless it’s the very last week of a month. They’ll do it for one day and one day only. They will place two cars (one out and one in) and if you’re going anything over 25MPH you get hit. This gets a great deal of people.

      I honestly wish they’d were there every single day because there are some idiots on our road. But for one day and they grab everybody they can? And routinely in the last days of each month? They’ll be out there this week before December starts.

      Report Post » orionreplay6607  
  • jingoistic.patriot
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:03am

    News flash here. These devices have been provided to every police department and country sheriff’s department in the country, courtesy of the Department of Homeland In-Security.

    Report Post »  
  • KidCharlemagne
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:56am

    “When we are successful……and we will be…..we’ll have a chance at this New World Order”….

    Report Post »  
  • America_First
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:54am

    People, People, People… Let me get my spoon…they scan your plate at Point A, then again at Point B knowing the distance and time lapse…your speed can be calculated and you get a ticket in the mail…If they want to scan and chk fine… after they determine you are an honest citizen the tag is purged…no storing…don’t give up your rights to the socialists in government…they need cash, the only way they can get it, is take it from you to give it the lazy and themselves… Give them an inch and they will take a mile…Can I put my spoon away…

    Report Post »  
    • eternalhostility
      Posted on November 27, 2011 at 10:33pm

      That is like saying they should be able to listen to all phone conversations without a warrant. its an illegal search period.

      Report Post »  
  • sbenard
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:51am

    We’re ALL criminals now! Big Brother has made criminals of us all!

    Report Post » sbenard  
  • sbenard
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:51am

    Big Brother is HERE! Tyranny has found a home in America, and it’s name is Obama!

    Report Post » sbenard  
  • oletiger
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:44am

    I know how to catch illegals and it doesn’t cost a fortune. Get behind them in a car and when they slow way down below the speed limit turn on the red and blue lights. Illegals never speed or draw attention to them.

    Report Post »  
    • Detroit paperboy
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:10am

      @ oletiger
      Or go to Home Depot, let twenty of em jump in the back of your truck and drive straight to INS.

      Report Post »  
    • patriot308
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 12:23pm

      LOL…. is this self deportation?

      Report Post »  
  • gianni d
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:42am

    @Cryptocop
    I think the speed cameras are an abuse of power. What we have is another form of taxation.Lets face it and I assume your a working cop. You have great discretion on whether or not you will write a ticket. I have heard many cops say, “I don’t give ticket unless they are 10 over or 15 etc”. The public has been trained for this over many years. Now the cameras are controlled by bureaucrats who will decide what the margin is if any, or it could change depending on how hungry the monster is that they have created.
    Now lets imagine what it will be like when the cameras take over and you have a block of cars all going at the same speed.(slow).
    I wish that you guys would start training people to Keep Right and Pass Left. Since they thing they own the lane regardless of their speed it causes many lane changes which lead to accidents which I believe is the major cause. The guy stuck in the left lane doing the “speed limit”) with a line of cars behind him should get the ticket. The other thing is slowing down to merge

    Report Post »  
  • TAKE_NO_PRISONERS
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:31am

    You can run but not hide.Stay law abiding and you got nothing to worry about.These machines just do a faster job than eyes on,the police are always on the look for a crook.

    Report Post »  
    • eternalhostility
      Posted on November 27, 2011 at 10:37pm

      please do us a favor and vote for obama. i know u think u are gop and u likely cant wait to vote for cain or newt or romney but please just vote for obama.

      Report Post »  
  • pr0grammer
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:28am

    So. Technology is being used to catch citizens in an illegal status, i.e. uninsured, unlicensed, felonies.

    When can technology be used to catch illegals posing as citizens?

    Report Post »  
    • USAMama
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 10:13am

      they don’t care about that. They won’t fine them, they’ll just give them food stamps or offer them a job.

      Report Post » USAMama  
  • Stephan D. Markos
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:22am

    Is it Big Brother we want?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Report Post »  
  • Darla_K
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:05am

    Well, I see nothing wrong with this. If a loved one was murdered and this system was able to find the killer everyone would be happy. On the other hand if you are not doing anything wrong you don’t have to worry about this. Where am I going wrong?

    Report Post » Darla_K  
    • justneedaname
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:20am

      Are you really that naive? It is incomprehensible to me that supporters of this actually believe that the corrupt government that you rail against incessantly would not eventually use this to come after you. You get what you deserve.

      Report Post »  
    • txn4justice
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:27am

      It’s about control. Americans don’t like to be controlled. That’s why we are here. If we wanted to be controlled we would live in Russia or China, or a muslim country.

      Report Post »  
    • Banter
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:30am

      Where does it stop? When does this erosion of your freedom and liberty cross the line for you?

      Report Post » Banter  
    • decendentof56
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:56am

      Darla……..
      On the surface, I’d agree with you, however, there is much more beneath the surface.
      If our society has degraded to the point that we need to have security camera’s everywhere to be protected, then you have to ask the question….how did things get like this.

      Do you think that mere slaps on the wrist for even murder could have something to do with it?
      How about the attacks on Whites by blacks this past summer at the Wisc. St. fair and elsewhere? Did you hear an outcry about those incidents? It was, unbelievably, minor news.
      How about the NBP’s at the Philly poll location? Was that prosecuted by the DOJ?
      How about allowing illegals from Mexico and wherever else crossing our borders to suck our taxpayers dry with costs for education, healthcare, and law enforcement, not to mention terrorists?
      How about allowing OWS’ers to place tents in “public places” and disturb businesses to the point that some may close?

      What I’m saying is, Darla, that if you allow our country to be ruled by the lawless, instead of the rule of law, then you are allowing government to make a case that we need to be protected with surveillance cameras. In fact, Darla….. people will demand for government to protect them as fear to do things we thought of as “normal” become dangerous.

      You will then be living in Orson Wells…’1984.’

      Report Post »  
    • Darla_K
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:20am

      Bring ‘em on

      Report Post » Darla_K  
    • Banter
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:23am

      Bring on what? More infringements of your freedom? Don’t worry, it’s happening at an alarming rate.

      Report Post » Banter  
    • grayling646
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 4:09pm

      @ darla
      When Big Brother comes knocking on your door and they send you north, your spouse west, your kids east and your grand kids south, maybe then you’ll understand. But then it’ll be too late.

      Report Post »  
    • eternalhostility
      Posted on November 27, 2011 at 10:40pm

      i find it ironic that this is the typical blaze reader and comment. for a site that is supposedly sooooo against progressives your comments are a joke. you have zero understanding of the constitution.

      Report Post »  
  • jcr9307
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:01am

    I personally, like it. But the question is, now that you have significantly increased your (Bad person amount to deal with people, actually have them! ) what do with them? Will the Taxpayers need to pay more to take care of these people?

    Report Post »  
  • InspectTHIS
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 7:43am

    It only catches criminals. Crime-free people need not worry.

    Report Post » InspectTHIS  
    • drybackinpi
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:01am

      Please take down the “Don’t Tread on Me”…you are an idiot.

      Report Post » drybackinpi  
    • Sheepdog911
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 9:31am

      Oooooo, another great chance to offend people who have too high an opinion of their own importance.

      Dry, now since this guy doesn’t meet you notion of who can lay claim to the nature of the Gadsden flag, you want him to take it down. Sorry bub, but that’s the OWS mentality.

      “That’s quite a large database of innocent people’s comings and goings,” said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst for the American Civil Liberties Union’s technology and liberty program. “The government has no business collecting that kind of information on people without a warrant.”

      When is the database not “large”? We all whine about our “privacy” in a ppublic place, until some small child gets abducted or a family member gets murdered or assaulted … then there’s never enough video. Well, what about that criminal’s privacy? Sorry, but he has just as much a right to privacy as you and I do. Now what do you think? Any change? You are in public! Get over it. You have privacy rights – your car doesn’t.

      Get a warrant? You are in a public place! A warrant requires something like prabable cause to be issued. My grocery store collects information and maintains data on everything I buy. Man, I think that should require a warrant. My Internet collects infomation based on what I view and “targetsss’ me with ads based on that collected data, all without a warrant … and I do that in the privacy of my own home. What an intrusion! Get over it. If you want privac

      Report Post » Sheepdog911  
    • Seneca264
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 10:26am

      You are a complete moron. Did you complete school? Just curious.

      Report Post » Seneca264  
    • grayling646
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 4:14pm

      I would never tell him to take down his icon. But I must say his icon and his attitude do seem to oppose each other.

      Report Post »  
    • mythological1
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 4:19pm

      “It only catches criminals. Crime-free people need not worry”

      Very true, yet consider this, not long ago the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of the second amendment. Imagine if that vote had gone the other way. Now, you the formerly legal gun owner, have just become the criminal. Point being, that all it takes is for the wrong person to be sitting in the big White House with enough of his croonies sitting to his left and everything that is now legal can quickly and easily become illegal. Obama Care is proof that just because it is unconstitutional doesn‘t mean they won’t try to make it law and hope that the Judges they have placed on the Supreme Court ignore the Constitution and uphold what they want to be the law of the land. The way things are going you will not have to “become” a criminal, the passing of laws will just “make” you one even though you are doing the same things you have legally done your entire life.

      Report Post »  
    • neidermeyer
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 11:26pm

      There was a study perhaps 20 years ago showing that the average driver on an average commute broke 17 different traffic laws … not necessarily by a great deal … we are all criminals .. it’s impossible to drive in a dynamic environment , reacting to other drivers and not infringe on some rule. You can open yourself to a dozen tickets at $264 each on a daily basis but that’s not for me …

      I already have to run a gauntlet of 8 traffic (red light) cameras in a 25 mile drive …

      Report Post » neidermeyer  
  • Bill Rowland
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 7:41am

    The surveillance cameras are a start for Obamas remaking of America. Who in the Federal Government will get the data. Will it go to Homeland security, or will there be a new agency formed to deal wirth the surveilence.?
    Big Brother is watching.

    OMG

    Report Post »  
    • Darla_K
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 8:15am

      With all the cameras on cell phones etc. alot are already watching. We kind of did it to ourselves don’t ya think?

      Report Post » Darla_K  
  • midnightgolfer
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 7:41am

    move

    Report Post »  
  • CryptoCop
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 7:38am

    A short answer: No. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy on a public street, first of all. Second, all it stores is tag data. Having access to an actual LPR database, I can tell you it doesn’t tell you anything about the owner, or where the car is going. It tells you that on a specific date and time that a specific tag number was recorded. ALPR technology has solved every time of crime, from burglary to homicide. The ALPR data is controlled just like driver’s license data and criminal history data, IF it is abused (and I can’t imagine a real world abuse that would be possible, it‘s far less prone to it than driver’s license data) then there are criminal penalties. Face it folks, the technology genie is out of the bottle, you don’t get the benefit of the I-phone and then expect the cops to stay stuck with typewriters and telegraph wires to do their job. Know this: There is no Constitutional problem with ALPR, if there were the ACLU would already have gone to court over it, the technology is in use all over the country.

    Report Post »  
    • Realist4U
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 2:55pm

      Are you serious? The ACLU? They are the problem, not the solution.

      Report Post »  
  • BehindBlueEyes
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 7:24am

    If Soros is successful in creating his new world order we will all be monitored and manipulated like cattle.

    Report Post » BehindBlueEyes  
  • txn4justice
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 6:43am

    We are already in a Surveillance society. Wake up and smell the Big Sis!

    Report Post »  
  • Meyvn
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 6:41am

    Stasi

    Report Post » Meyvn  
  • txn4justice
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 6:41am

    We are already in a SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY. Wake up and smell the coffee.

    Report Post »  
    • Jomil48
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 6:46am

      Big Brother is watching everyday

      Report Post »  
    • Public Enema
      Posted on November 26, 2011 at 10:52am

      And they are on this site…..collecting data…..knowing who u are and what u think…..analyzing the “dangers” of ur speech…

      Report Post »  
    • V-MAN MACE
      Posted on November 27, 2011 at 8:49am

      I don’t care. I know I’m on their list. I’m not intimidated.

      They’re the criminals, not me.

      Report Post » V-MAN MACE  
  • demint.disciple
    Posted on November 26, 2011 at 6:39am

    WOW !! Over to the Drudge..

    Report Post » demint.disciple  
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