Legislator pushes bill to set standards for license plate readers

Over the past 10 years, hundreds of automated license plate readers have been deployed across Pennsylvania.

The devices, which can be stationary or built into police vehicles, record the comings and goings of motorists as they drive from one municipality to another. But despite the personal nature of that information, each community can have its own standards for who has access to the information, where and how long it is kept, and how it is used.

State Rep. Greg Rothman, RCumberland County, wants to change that.

Mr. Rothman has proposed House Bill 317, which would set statewide rules for how the information is used and require Pennsylvania State Police to establish a statewide repository to store the information for a maximum of one year. Mr. Rothman’s bill, reintroduced this year after the Senate failed to take action following House approval last year, had a hearing before the House Transportation Committee Tuesday.

Statewide police chiefs and district attorneys groups say they support the bill because it standardizes practices they already follow, but the American Civil Liberties Union questions the need to keep the records that long. Local officials

Local officials say they have noproblem with the bill.

“Right now, it’s like the Wild West out there,” Mr. Rothman said in an interview. “There’s no standards, no regulations, no rules, so [police departments] can do what they want. I’m trying to put some governance on it.”

Mr. Rothman said he wasn’t aware of any abuses but said it is important to have all jurisdictions follow the same standards with sensitive information. The Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association and the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, which support the bill, said the readers have been a great help in solving crimes.

Mr. Rothman compared the lack of standards for license plate readers to selfdriving vehicles, where the technology has developed faster than the rules to govern it.

“I think for the most part, [the technology] is a positive,” Mr. Rothman said. “I just want to address the privacy concerns. People want to know what they are doing with the data.”

Castle Shannon Chief Ken Truver said he’s been using license plate readers since 2007 when he was deputy chief in Mt. Lebanon. Four police cars in his department have plate reading equipment that constantly records plates and runs them through a state database to check for violations, warrants against the owner and notices that other departments are searching for that vehicle.

Castle Shannon operates a computer server to store information for several other departments, which he declined to identify, and generally keeps information for a maximum of one year.

When the system identifies a vehicle with a potential problem, the chief said, officers then run an additional check of the license plate through the state database to confirm any violations before they pull over a driver. He stressed the only information police see from the reader is the alert that there’s a potential issue with the vehicle but no personal information about the owner.

In addition to the license plate readers, Chief Truver said, Castle Shannon has some of the just over 1,200 cameras District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.’s office has deployed at intersections throughout the county. About 400 of those also can read license plates.

Chief Truver said his department and others he is familiar with already follow the access and use standards that are part of the proposed legislation and strongly disagreed with Mr. Rothman’s connotation of “the Wild West.” He believes the license readers are covered by extension through rules for other state records that limit access to police officers for legitimate police business.

“There’s no more accountability in this bill than we already have in place,” he said. “It applies all of those rules that are already in place to license readers.

“I’m happy to see there would be some parameters for everyone to follow. If that gives solace to people concerned about privacy … I’m all for it.”

Mr. Zappala’s office hasn’t reviewed the legislation, but he has no plans to change how municipalities across the county use information gathered by his camera system, spokesman Mike Manko said in a statement. The county keeps the video for30 to 60 days.

“The cameras deployed by District Attorney Zappala over the past five years, many of which have [plate reading] capabilities, have become a tremendously valuable tool for law enforcement,” he wrote. “Hundreds of investigative matters each week are assisted by the camera network, resulting in crimes being solved more quickly and prosecutions becoming stronger.”

Pittsburgh police weren’t available for comment, but spokeswoman Cara Cruz said in a statement the city uses license plate readers “sparingly” in major cases. They are “another investigative tool” integrated with the city’s surveillance cameras and Shot Spotter system.

Under a city ordinance, thecity keeps information for nomore than 10 days.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin, president of the state DA’s association, expressed strong support for the legislation. The technology, in conjunction with surveillance cameras, has helped prosecutors in his county solve two homicides and numerous other crimes, hesaid.

Lehigh already keeps information for up to a year, he said, but a statewide repository for information collected by license readers would be “a welcome change.”

The ACLU believes a year is too long to hold license plate information, spokesman Andy Hoover said, but it generally supports the proposed legislation.

“The fact they are putting restrictions on it all is a good thing,” he said.

The bill hasn’t been scheduledfor a committee vote.