City of San Jose Looking To Attach Automatic License Plate Readers To Garbage Trucks

from the proxy-police dept

Thu, Aug 27th 2015 3:34pm — Tim Cushing

Because automatic license plate readers just aren't efficient enough -- what with their ability to capture hundreds, if not thousands, of plate scans per hour -- San Jose's city government is looking to deputize other businesses and their vehicles in its quest to achieve 100% coverage of the city.

Mayor Sam Liccardo and Councilmen Johnny Khamis and Raul Peralez proposed that the city consider strapping license plate readers to the front of garbage trucks, allowing them to record the plates of every car along their routes. The data would be fed directly to the Police Department from the privately operated trash trucks, prompting an officer to respond to stolen vehicles or cars involved with serious crime.

"We can cover every street at least once a week and possibly deter thieves from coming into our city," Khamis said. A committee chaired by Liccardo that sets the council's agenda voted Wednesday to continue exploring the idea.

San Jose won't be the first city to use non-police vehicles to do its plate scanning. As was covered here earlier this year, Hampton, Virginia has mounted an ALPR to a "city van" and uses the data collected to chase down the city's tax evaders -- a term that includes anyone who owes $5 or more to the city. Another town doesn't even use a city vehicle. Isle of Wight completely outsources its plate scanning efforts, putting it solely in the hands of a private company with its own plate scanners.

While it's true that a vehicle parked on a public street (or one that can be viewed from a public street) has no expectation of privacy, the amount of data gathered still raises privacy-related concerns. It's one thing to view a vehicle on a public street with a set of human eyes. It's quite another when this set of "eyes" compiles thousands of plate-location records and stores them for weeks or months. Once that happens, it's no longer just random cars on random streets. It's long-term tracking.

At this point, the plan is still in its proposal stage. City officials say at least one sanitation company is already on board with the proposed program.

Khamis said Wednesday's action is only the first step in a long process. The proposal calls for city officials to explore the "feasibility, legality and civil liberties implications" of garbage-truck mounted license plate readers. Questions the council members asked the city to consider include the process of transferring license data from the private garbage trucks to the police, whether they would be subjected to the same or different policies governing police car license readers and whether other cities have taken similar measures and how they worked.

Beyond the civil liberties implications, the city needs to examine the reality of what it's doing: using public funds to purchase law enforcement equipment to place on private vehicles. And it needs to ask itself whether the people providing these funds -- taxpayers -- are on board with the use of private companies as an extension of law enforcement. It also needs to examine its motives thoroughly. Just because there's no expectation of privacy doesn't necessarily mean government bodies should strive for 100% exploitation of these areas.

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Filed Under: alpr, garbage trucks, license plates, privacy, san jose

26 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2015 @ 3:37pm

Oh the problems,
As agents of the police......
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2015 @ 3:45pm

I see a possible new product market....
How about someone selling motorized license plate covers that reveal your license plate when you start the car and cover it up when you turn off the car? I suspect privacy concerned people would snap 'em up in a heart beat.
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scotts13 (profile), 27 Aug 2015 @ 4:02pm

The law has always assumed a balance of power...
...which is rapidly tipping to one side. Traffic laws were written with the assumption that most offenses would never been seen, prosecuted or fined. Fines were high enough to discourage the behavior, but no one expected everyone to be paying them.

Now the surveillance state wants to catch everyone, at everything. That being the case, I think we have to re-think a lot of our laws.
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sehlat (profile), 27 Aug 2015 @ 4:04pm

Re: I see a possible new product market....
Good idea, but if such covers aren't already illegal, they WILL be as soon as the politicians hear about it.
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Bamboo Harvester (profile), 27 Aug 2015 @ 4:37pm

This could be fun...
If I put an ALPR on my private cars, can I beat up handcuffed "suspects", or should I just shoot them?
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2015 @ 4:52pm

Re: This could be fun...
Shoot ofc, you dont know if they might be recording you, so best be safe.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2015 @ 5:00pm

while we are at it why not require city officials to wear body cameras. That way we will know they are being honest and law abiding in their daily lives.

What's good for the average serf is apparently not good enough for the elites
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Socrates, 27 Aug 2015 @ 5:05pm

Yet another SWATing vector
This is wide open for SWATing, without the individual or organization even having to do a phone call.

Swap the license plates before the garbage truck arrive, and let the carnage ensure!

The random nature of normal policing make scamming a police car more risky and less likely to work.
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2015 @ 6:01pm

Re: Re: I see a possible new product market....
Can they outlaw garages? Or keeping my car in a garage on garbage day?
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Aug 2015 @ 6:02pm

How big is their hard drive?
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Aaron Walkhouse (profile), 27 Aug 2015 @ 6:56pm

I see a possible new product market....
If you're parked on the street a plate must be visible.
Most parking lots would tow unlicensed cars on sight.
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Is this a good idea or what?, 28 Aug 2015 @ 12:29am

Let us examize this (for all you hackers out there)...
All electronic cameras are (as far as I know) scan the image one pixel at a time. If we know what the rate of scan is, how hard would it be to have a covering device that lets us see the licence plate as it actually is but would foil any electronic camera so that it would scan a random image.

You can buy weather covers now that protect the integrity of the plates, how hard would it be to modify these covers so that extra facilities are available for privacy purposes.

It's not like these automatic licence plate readers are ever completely accurate are they?

Any hackers able to or have already looked at this kind of functionality?
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Aug 2015 @ 12:57am

San Francisco already mounts them on non-police vehicles...
... and has for at least 3 years.

They are generally unmarked white mini-vans driven by DPT (parking enforcement). Supposedly is so they can boot or tow persistent parking offenders, but I know at least one person who's car was recovered as a result of these scans.

The problem with all this extensive surveillance is the very, very corrosive effect it has on society. I'm not sure all these agencies understand the enormous backlash that will happen at some point - an agency/career/budget ending backlash.

As Churchill once said "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else."
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Beech, 28 Aug 2015 @ 1:12am

Re: I see a possible new product market....
I was thinking the same thing. Attach a little motor inside your trunk that activates as soon as you turn the car off. Have it lower a curtain over the plate. Bonus points if the curtain has a bogus plate # on it.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Aug 2015 @ 5:27am

Can I put one on my vehicle and record license plates as I drive to/from work?

If not, why?

Pass a law that makes it mandatory that every vehicle have one, everyone takes pictures of everyone else. None of it would be useful other than instilling a fear of being caught doing something Big Brother frowns upon.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Aug 2015 @ 6:48am

Has anyone asked how the workers feel?
Given that they'll be targets during auto-related crimes?
Do they get danger pay?
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nasch (profile), 28 Aug 2015 @ 7:40am

Rights
Just because there's no expectation of privacy doesn't necessarily mean government bodies should strive for 100% exploitation of these areas.

It seems like police are resentful of the rights citizens have, and delighted and/or relieved to find a way to invade our privacy, get away with assault or murder, or just make their jobs easier at our expense.
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That One Guy (profile), 28 Aug 2015 @ 8:03am

Re: Rights
Of course, because as they like to remind people they're the 'good guys', and since the 'good guys' are always right, clearly anything that makes their jobs harder is to be removed or ignored as being 'bad'.

Of course the above is only for the 'good' cops, the real scum go into the job to indulge their power-fantasies, and for them anything that keeps them from believing that they can do whatever they want clearly needs to be removed, as it takes all the fun out of the job.

/poe
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Aug 2015 @ 8:58am

Re: Has anyone asked how the workers feel?
course not, they just get be stooges like the rest of us.
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ECA (profile), 28 Aug 2015 @ 9:45am

WOW
so, PAY another group to do the JOB???
Or DONT pay them to do your job..
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Personanongrata, 28 Aug 2015 @ 12:37pm

Tax-Feeders 'R' You
Mayor Sam Liccardo and Councilmen Johnny Khamis and Raul Peralez are disgusting know-nothing nitwits.

The citizens of San Jose California should install video cameras in the offices, cars and on the lapels of every elected politician in their city to ensure the tax-feeding turds (politicians) are on the straight and narrow while on city's time.
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DarkStarAz, 29 Aug 2015 @ 12:23pm

License Plat Scanners
Saw another article not too long ago that in certain jurisdictions they want ppl to park with the license plate facing forward. On your own property!
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2015 @ 5:10am

Stalkers
"Once that happens, it's no longer just random cars on random streets. It's long-term tracking."

Or what is also called "stalking". Turning garbage trucks into stalkers. Great idea.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2015 @ 5:12am

Re: Re: Re: I see a possible new product market....
"Can they outlaw garages? Or keeping my car in a garage on garbage day?"

Sure they can. Can't allow criminals a place to hide, can they?
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2015 @ 5:13am

Re: Re: I see a possible new product market....
"Bonus points if the curtain has a bogus plate # on it."

Maybe the Mayor's.
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LduN (profile), 31 Aug 2015 @ 10:06am

Re: Stalkers
Most (if not all) stalkers are trash anyways... so garbage trucks makes sense afterall.
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