Philly PD Declares All Drivers To Be 'Under Investigation' While Denying Request For License Plate Reader Data

from the the-REAL-wretched-hive-of-scum-and-villainy dept

Fri, Apr 10th 2015 3:50am — Tim Cushing

We've all heard nasty things about the citizens of the apparently ironically-named "City of Brotherly Love." They'll boo Santa Claus. They throw batteries at opposing baseball players... and their own. And that's just the sports fans.

More bad news has just arrived on the "We're all not that terrible" PR front: according to Philly's police department, each and every car owner whose vehicle's license plate has had the misfortune of being scanned by the PD's license plate readers is some sort of criminal. Charges TBD.

The City of Philadelphia does not want you to know in which neighborhoods the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) is focusing their use of powerful automatic license plate readers (ALPR), nor do they want disclosed the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of this technology, as they continue to fight a Declaration public records request filed in January with MuckRock News.

City officials argue in their response that every metro driver is under investigation, in an effort to exempt so-called criminal investigatory records from release under PA’s Right-to-Know Act:

Moreover, records “relating to or resulting in a criminal investigation” are exempt from disclosure under the Act, in particular “[i]nvestigative materials, notes, correspondence, videos and reports.” 65 P.S. § 67.708(b)(16)(ii). Such individual license plate readings and accompanying information are investigative materials that relate to individual criminal investigations, and, as your request indicates, these investigations may result in vehicle stops, arrests, or other police actions. Therefore, the individual license plate reading data is exempt from disclosure under the Act.

Investigative reporter Dustin Slaughter and The Philly Declaration have been battling the city for access to two weeks of raw ALPR output and, after multiple appeals, have been told every scan is exempt because every scan is part of a criminal investigation. This bizarre claim echoes the Los Angeles Police Department's public records request-thwarting declaration: all scans are, and always will be, tied to investigations.

The Declaration is seeking this data to see if deployment patterns signal any sort of bias or prejudicial treatment. What it has managed to pry free from law enforcement are the following facts: At least 10 ALPRs are in steady use. Non-hit data is retained for a year. Data actually related to investigations is held indefinitely. (Which would mean -- if the PD's stated logic holds -- that all scans are held indefinitely...)

The PD did hand over some summary data "pertaining to the time period requested," but it must have grabbed the wrong figures or misread Dustin Slaughter's request. He asked for data for a two-week period (Jan. 1-14, 2015). These are the numbers the PD handed over.

Number of Tags Read: 22,810,687
Terror Watch Reads: 77
Stolen Autos Recovered: 420
Stolen Plates Recovered: 23
Felony Arrests Made: 19
Misdemeanor Arrests Made: 9
Total Read Hours ALPR Fleet: 81,197

While it's theoretically possible 22 million plates could be scanned in two weeks, there's no way the Philly PD racked up 81,197 read hours during that time period, even if distributed across multiple vehicles. If this is a two-week period summary, the PD would need 241 units running 24 hours a day to hit the quoted "read hours."

But even if these numbers are a lifetime summary of the the ALPR program, they're still pretty impressive… at least in terms of scanning efficiency.

The department launched its ALPR program in or around 2011, according to Newsworks’ reporter Tom MacDonald.

This means the department is raking in around 7 million scans per year. On the other hand, if 22 million scans have only generated 19 felony arrests, you have to start wondering about the return-on-investment -- something that doesn't exactly back up Commissioner Charles Ramsey's claim that the ALPRs are "highly effective crime fighting tools." While it's nice to see the department is recovering around 140 stolen vehicles every year, it's a bit more disheartening to hear that it's only led to 28 total arrests -- especially when it considers every single one of these 22 million scans to be part of criminal investigations.

Final Response Slaughter CP 2015 0073 (PDF)Final Response Slaughter CP 2015 0073 (Text)

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: alpr, investigations, license plate readers, license plates, philadelphia, philadelphia pd, philadelphia police, privacy

41 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Howard, Cowering, 10 Apr 2015 @ 4:19am

You have to give it time
Yes, there's only 28 arrests -- SO FAR. Philly PD is a patient organization. Sooner or later, every one of those nearly 23 million records will be tied to something chargeable.

Here's a thought: since these are all active investigations, and nobody's turned themselves in to the Philly PD, aren't the owners of those tags impeding an investigation? Or interfering with a police officer in the performance of his/her duty?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
New Mexico Mark, 10 Apr 2015 @ 4:37am

Filthydelphia
City of Brotherly Shove (tm)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 4:45am

You just put one of these plastic license plate covers on that makes your plates invisible to a camera, problem solved.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 5:05am

Re:
If you don't have anything to hide, you wouldn't have a reason to cover your plates. You're clearly a criminal!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 5:05am

Re:
Hardly
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 5:06am

Of what use is the label "criminal" when everyone is one?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 5:52am

How long can an investigation legally last? Somewhere some drivers must stop being a suspect...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
me, 10 Apr 2015 @ 5:55am

If they investigate you WITHOUT probable cause
And based on the numbers provides that millions of examples of that, how feasible is a class action lawsuit for mass defamation of character?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 6:24am

'City officials argue in their response that every metro driver is under investigation'

people dont seem to understand that this is the goal all police and law enforcement depts are striving to achieve. you may laugh, but everything that they want is being slowly brought into being. just like the entertainment industries, they started by trying to sue the lowliest of companies, them moved to greater and still greater companies with every law suit win. now, they are not only trying to introduce a committee that can just accuse someone of doing something the industries dont like, with no proof and have that person denied his right to use the internet. and dont forget the latest filing of how, according to them, VPNs break copyright law, even though they have been in existence for years, and are used on a daily basis by millions of people. another 'clutch at a straw' move by Gollywood et al!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 6:30am

return-on-investment
In my opinion forget about the felony arrests and think about this theoretical statement which would probably get them funding for the next 10 years:

"With our licence plate reader program we were able to locate 77 potential terrorists. We will continue to expand our efforts to keep our citizens safe."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Just Another Anonymous Troll, 10 Apr 2015 @ 6:46am

Re: return-on-investment
Why don't they just say that everyone is a potential terrorist (technically true, anyone COULD be a terrorist but the likelihood is astronomically low) and claim to have identified 22,810,687 terrorists? Imagine how much funding THAT would get you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 6:46am

Re: Re:
They also have to prove who is driving. Because some red light cameras are more "revenue trap" than for safety, I merely position the sun visor to hide my face whenever I am coming near any such cameras, so that if I cannot stop as the light changes, without getting rear-ended, the sun shade hides my face so they cannot identify me.

In short, you can position the sun visor to hide your face while still being able to see the road.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Just Another Anonymous Troll, 10 Apr 2015 @ 6:47am

Re: You have to give it time
As the number of (vague and easily-abused) laws increases, the probability of you being a criminal approaches one.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mason Wheeler (profile), 10 Apr 2015 @ 6:48am

They throw batteries at opposing baseball players... and their own.

Assault and batteries?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 6:49am

Re: Re:
The plate is still visible to the humnan eye. What the cover does is make it invisible to cameras. Unless the camera is looking straight on, it will not get your number.

Where I live, there are a lot of people using those.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 7:20am

taken to the logical conclusion
Police are drivers, all drivers are under investigation,
therefore the entire police department is under investigation.....by itself......
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 7:27am

Re: You have to give it time
They're just waiting on the FBI to conjure up some terror plots for those 23 million for them to bust.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 7:28am

Re: Re: Re:
I think in IL those are illegal.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 7:30am

Re: taken to the logical conclusion
The police have investigated themselves and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Spaceman Spiff (profile), 10 Apr 2015 @ 7:48am

Too many toys
The police have way too many toys these days. If they can't play nice, take them away!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Fenderson (profile), 10 Apr 2015 @ 8:14am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
They're illegal in many states, including mine (mine outlaws all license plate covers -- even ones that are perfectly transparent.) Oddly, it's perfectly legal to buy and sell such covers here, but it's illegal to put them on your car. It's a $287 fine that they issued 210 times in 2009.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mason Wheeler (profile), 10 Apr 2015 @ 8:16am

Re: Re: taken to the logical conclusion
Sigh. Where's the "sad but true" button?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jack, 10 Apr 2015 @ 8:45am

Re: Re: Re:
They don't work at all - the cameras are still able to read the plate. If a human can read the plate, so can the camera.

They tested this, two separate times, on Mythbusters and thoroughly debunked them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 8:54am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
One thing that is not illegal is positioning your sun visor to hide your face, so that if you trigger a speed or red light camera, they cannot see your face, and, therefore, cannot identify the driver. With these "revenue trap" red light and speed cameras, I do that in places where they are in use, esepcially speed cameras. If they cannot identify the driver, they cannot give a ticket.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 8:55am

Some quick math says that the data provided may be one years worth: 81,197 hours of operation / 10 units = 8,119.7 hours per unit / 24 hours = 338.28 days each unit was in operation over the reported period. Looks like each unit got a little time off for "GOOD" behavior or maybe one or more units were down for repair.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DogBreath, 10 Apr 2015 @ 9:02am

Re: Re: Re:
or you could just put on your monkey mask.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DogBreath, 10 Apr 2015 @ 9:05am

Re:
When someone stops being a suspect? I think they call that a "Death Certificate".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
me, 10 Apr 2015 @ 9:18am

Re: Re:
nope the estate was plotting to it seems
[ link to this | view in thread ]
aerilus, 10 Apr 2015 @ 9:44am

Re: Re: You have to give it time
all we can do it hope that its an asymtotical approach
[ link to this | view in thread ]
aerilus, 10 Apr 2015 @ 9:48am

Re:
we have private prisons to support. they take make it so citenzens can't vote and pay campaign contributions. the better question is how can we further help these most illustrious institutions.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 10:36am

What is the front number plate is smashed in. About a year ago, when taking my car in for service, I came in just a little to fast into one parking space with a negative slope and smashed in the license plate, though the rest of the car was OK.

The way the front plate is bashed, there is no possible way a camera could get the license number. the front license plate got smashed good, even though the rest of the car is OK, so if I am ever in Philly, they will not get anything unless they scan the back plate as well.

Since speed cameras and red light cameras photograph the front plate, they would would not be able to get a license number to send a ticket, either.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
BentFranklin (profile), 10 Apr 2015 @ 10:45am

Re:
In Pennsylvania there is only the rear license plate.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 11:02am

Re: Re:
What happens if you drive to another state, where you are supposed to have both front and back plates? I think that would cause problems with police in other states
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jeremy Lyman (profile), 10 Apr 2015 @ 11:30am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Also, "they cannot arrest a husband and a wife for the same crime". Pretty sure I heard that somewhere.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 11:54am

Re: Re: return-on-investment
actually you have to take a few dozen of those plates out of the equation, because police (and authority figure) plates have been set to be automatically removed from the list. All purely by accident of course. Some poor programmer tripped, hit his head on the keyboard and accidentally typed in several hundred lines of code designed to track, detect and remove specific plates. Then whilst getting up he accidentally typed in a list of 'excluded' plates.....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 11:55am

Re:
Throwing batteries...question is, will anyone be Charged? ;)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 11:56am

Re: Re: Re:
Nah because then the Philly police will just assume you're black and about to assault them and shoot you in the back 8 times whilst you're driving away.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 1:11pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
However, they have to have a photo of the driver. If they cannot see the face of the driver, they cannot identify the driver and cannot give a ticket.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 2:42pm

In a future court case against law enforcement:
"Let the record show that this person has been under investigation on 51 separate occasions, for being a citizen, and therefore clearly cannot be trusted to provide testimony against this fine officer, who, I might add, has never been investigated"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 10 Apr 2015 @ 3:57pm

The Philadelphia Parking Authority routinely uses license plate scanners on their vehicles. Oftentimes booting crews will drive around neighborhoods scanning the plates of cars parked on the street looking for vehicles that have outstanding parking tickets. They will boot cars on the spot when the license plate readers find a match.

Some Philadelphia Police cars have license plate scanners on their lightbars as well. Similar to the PPA vehicles they have a left and right front facing scanner and a rear facing scanner on the right side.

Philadelphia is also home to a recently completed fusion center. It's very likely that they're utilizing scans from both the police and parking authority vehicles.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PhillyV, 11 Apr 2015 @ 5:52am

Re: Re:
Or just a fan of protecting privacy.
[ link to this | view in thread ]