WASHINGTON (PNN) - November 22, 2011 - In Washington, D.C., where there are plenty of powerful people and precious places to protect, the cops have lots of high-tech tools at their disposal. But one tool, automatic license plate readers, could become much more than a crime-prevention device.
D.C. thug cops maintain the country’s densest network of plate readers, and keep a three-year database of license plate locations - meaning they can track where everyone’s car is, all the time, whether at the grocery store, an ammunition shop or Planned Parenthood.
This can be useful in catching criminals, as a Washington Post feature on the subject points out. In a murder case scheduled for trial last year, thug cops used the plate readers to quickly track down the suspect, after a witness wrote down his license plate number.
But what about other uses? The database can track the entirety of private citizens’ comings and goings, something that’s not the government’s business; and what about third parties, who could potentially access the database? A conversation about these possibilities is still sorely lacking.
The un-Amerikan intrusive surveillance system includes more than 250 cameras in DC and its suburbs, which capture 1,800 images a minute and download them into an archive. It has more than one license plate reader per square mile, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The District keeps the images for three years - much longer than most suburbs - which range from a couple months to two years.
“It has now become clear that this technology, if we do not limit its use, represents a significant step toward the creation of a surveillance society in the United States,” the ACLU said in a statement.