York City Police Department to Deploy Automatic License Plate Scanners

[Shomari]

The systems utilize a basic form of optical character recognition. They are easy to foil.

That being said, I would urge caution before attempting even the most passive methods of cloaking/obscuring your plates. I don't want to see anyone get into legal trouble.

I did see a car on Market St in downtown York with what appeared to be a reflective shield of some type over the plates. I snapped a picture, and tweeted about it. Most people who saw the car remarked it looked like it was definitely law enforcement. I'd have to agree, just for the mere fact of how obvious the attachment was on the vehicle.

[MT1]

I've seen these used around Buffalo. The device basically takes the place of the hard copy "BOLO" sheets provided to patrol officers. They can cruise a mall parking lot or street and scan hundreds of cars per hour to find those reported stolen.

If you really want to be concerned consider this.... some states, such as NY, have all of their state residents insurance and registration info stored in a manner the officer with this system will know instantly as he drives past you.

[ForwardAssist]

I bet the Krauts would have given their left nut for this technology.

[Shomari]

That's precisely the problem. Also, the devices have advanced and can now scan upwards of thousands of plates per hour. The databases used to match 'hits' can be queried against insurance/registration info, time, tag, even GPS coordinates, etc.

Police agencies can load whatever database they want for whatever reason. So, they may include Amber alert databases, stolen vehicle databases, or databases of vehicles registered to individuals who owe municipal fees or taxes. This has been found to be the case in some cities where the devices have been deployed.

The biggest problem is the devices' ability to catalog and store individual citizens' daily mobility patterns, allowing police to engage in retroactive surveillance and location patterning. This is precisely why I am lobbying our local city council to pass a binding resolution to regulate the devices usage and demand that data on innocent citizens be purged within 30 days.

[Deleted]

I've seen these used around Buffalo. The device basically takes the place of the hard copy "BOLO" sheets provided to patrol officers. They can cruise a mall parking lot or street and scan hundreds of cars per hour to find those reported stolen.

If you really want to be concerned consider this.... some states, such as NY, have all of their state residents insurance and registration info stored in a manner the officer with this system will know instantly as he drives past you.

Here you would get....

1) Stolen vehicles
2) Wanted persons associated with vehicles
3) Expired registrations
4) Suspended registrations for....
-No insurance
-Bad checks to PennDOT

[streaker69]

It would be interesting to know if the software they're using has the ability to ignore plates when found. Might want to do a FOIA request for the name of the software they're using and it's capabilities. After all, wouldn't want city council members to have their plates added to the ignore list.

[Shomari]

It would be interesting to know if the software they're using has the ability to ignore plates when found. Might want to do a FOIA request for the name of the software they're using and it's capabilities. After all, wouldn't want city council members to have their plates added to the ignore list.

So far, I've done two RTK requests on the devices and the YCPD data practices policy. Right-to-Know requests because in this case the local police agency and municipality have jurisdiction over the data.

The solicitor's office has denied them both, citing Homeland Security exemptions. It is interesting to note that federally funded license plate scanners come with requirements that data be shared with DHS fusion centers. The scanners purchased in York were funded through a DOJ grant.

Please see here: http://yorklp.org/york-lp-vs-scanners-round-two

[ForwardAssist]

There is a story about the DEA mounting these on interstate highways.

Tell me that they won't eventually use it to track every car that drives by, build a database of the cars which frequently travel certain routes, and electronically crawl up every one of their owner's asses.

There is no privacy anymore, whatever invasive technology is developed some jackboot will employ.

The general public never does the math, molehills are used to justify mountains.

[mbinpa]

I don't remember the particulars, but this reminds me of an island community with only one access. They put up these scanners on the bridge to the island and scanned and recorded every vehicle crossing the bridge.

Apparently the residents loved the idea. It gives the police a record of any 'visitors' on the island when a crime is committed or for any other reason. Made them feel very safe knowing the police were looking out for there safety.

[soberbyker]

I don't remember the particulars, but this reminds me of an island community with only one access. They put up these scanners on the bridge to the island and scanned and recorded every vehicle crossing the bridge.

Apparently the residents loved the idea. It gives the police a record of any 'visitors' on the island when a crime is committed or for any other reason. Made them feel very safe knowing the police were looking out for there safety.

And here I thought the Brighton PD cars had false advertising ....


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