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Plate scanners could be added to law enforcement vehicles

By Blaine Tolison, wsoctv.com
By Blaine Tolison, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Scanners on street lights and utility poles help police track suspects and missing people using license plates, and lawmakers want to put them on police vehicles as well.

Eyewitness News anchor Blaine Tolison reports on the crime-fighting advantage that the scanners would provide.

Police have been using license plate readers for years.

They are usually mounted on a street light or a building, but now they could be mounted on police vehicles, greatly expanding the technology, officials said.

House Bill 242, which is on its way to the North Carolina Senate, would give agencies the ability to use tag readers in more places, including on their cars.

Police currently are often limited to fixed locations on city-owned streets.

Tag readers scan a license plate and run the number through thousands of records in a national registry, then flag a wanted vehicle and alert police.

Todd Walther of the Fraternal Order of Police said the readers have helped him in his own investigations.

"We recovered a lot of missing people, whether they wanted to be found or not,” Walther said. “At least we were able to get the alert on the vehicle they were driving."

Some worry about invasion of privacy.

"I don't think they should be able to drive on my street and just scan every car in the driveway, no," resident Annette Bookman said.

Walther said the readers don't look inside vehicles.

"It's not that intrusive,” Walther said. “It's just recording the tag, which is on the back of everyone's car. I mean, that's just public information if you look at it that way."

If agencies like the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department want to start using tag readers on their vehicles, it would have to be approved by the state Department of Transportation if the bill becomes law.

House Bill 242 passed the House and is on its way to the Senate.

CMPD wouldn't comment on whether it supports the bill, but officials said they currently use tag readers throughout the city.

The American Civil Liberties Union has already come out against license plate readers and the privacy risks that it says they pose for innocent people.

The ACLU raises concerns about the possibility of abusive tracking, institutional abuse and discriminatory targeting.

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