Public Hearing on Bill to Ban License Plate ScannerSOUTH PORTLAND POLICE PRESS RELEASE (Excerpted for length): As previously released, in the best interests of public and officer safety, the City of South Portland and the South Portland Police Department, which recently implemented the first ALPR camera in the state, opposes this legislation. South Portland Police Chief Edward Googins commented that “Automated License Plate Recognition technology has huge benefits in law enforcement by providing an additional layer of safety for officers, while improving their effectiveness in keeping our communities safe. It is unfortunate that this proposed legislation has been presented as the best way to protect privacy issues when other, more appropriate, Click here for the department’s procedures for using the technology. South Portland police officers handle between 33,000 and 35,000 calls for service each year. Evacuation estimates indicate that the Maine Mall alone, which is located in South Portland, sees over 17 million visitors each year; averaging around 46,000 visitors each day, or 1.4 million visitors each month. These numbers increase during the busier summer and holiday shopping seasons. In fact, on Black Friday alone, there are estimated to be approximately 71,223 vehicles in the area of the Maine Mall, an area patrolled by one police officer. Considering this data and the current climate in which municipalities are being asked to do more with less, the department This bill was introduced based upon privacy concerns raised by the Maine Civil Liberties Union (MCLU). Their concerns stem from law enforcement’s access to what we’re calling a “scan file,” which is simply a list of license plate numbers that the ALPR cruiser drives by during the day that are not contained on the ALPR “hotlist.”
CommentsBy Anthony Young (ayoungcom@aol.com) on 2010 02 06 None….......I would tend to agree with you. Someone famous once said “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”. It always seems terribly apropos if you are wearing a uniform ! It’s not really laws and ideas that are at fault, but the “human element”. Anthony Young By None on 2010 02 06 Ok guess my censored comment needs to be broken down and moved off off the satire plate. Data bases are notriously flawed as can be seen in the constant problems found on the terrorist “no fly” list, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/29/national/main6155506.shtml we can be certain it would only be a matter of time that a driver on the “no drive” list would be an innocent person with no reason to be there. Any number of scenarios could be portrayed about how a traffic stop might go for this innocent person with a data emboldened police officer screaming at them to “get on the ground!!!! get on the ground!!! I might just choose to discuss the matter with the officer instead of responding to what the average felon might know to be a serious threat to his or her life. In South Portland tradgedies are certainly well reported between police and suspects so I suppose the message that the APLR system should send to us all, is that if you know you are innocent, and out of the blue a police officer pulls you over with gun out, then be very careful to obey his or her every instruction, I mean who knows your plate might somehow have been confused as one involved in a major felony. So survive the incident, prove your innocence, then seek council and sue South Portland for everything you can get. By None on 2010 02 04 We are not quite sure how Mr. X got on the “no drive” list and are indeed sorry that during his wrongful arrest he was tased but we feel his 10 million dollar lawsuit against the City of South Portland is excessive and will found to be without merit. We hope anyways. By None on 2010 02 04 
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