Tuesday, September 27, 2016

ALPRs - Scary New Police Technology?

Scary New Police Technology


There's a headline that will get your attention! With all the new technology available, it can be a bit scary. The video is about the Automatic License Plate Recognition units (ALPRs) that are becoming more popular. These tools automate what an officer used to have to do manually, and can run so many more vehicles than an officer could.



I'm not so sure the technology is "scary," but it does make you wonder what happens when all of that data is placed into a database and stored. There are privacy issues that arise, but on the other hand, a shared database could possibly help a law enforcement agency to locate a dangerous criminal or terrorist. There will need to be strict regulation on the data collected to ensure that our privacy is protected. The ACLU has a web page called "You Are Being Tracked" that discusses some of these issues:



These ALPRs are becoming more common, so I thought I would show you some photos of what the systems look like. In your travels, keep your eyes out for the cruisers with the ALPR technology.



So... What are your thoughts on ALPR? Scary? Not Scary? Invasion of privacy? Let me know your thoughts, and thanks for visiting my blog!



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