Are Automatic License Plate Readers Under Threat In Western New York?

Could the Buffalo area's vast surveillance network of cameras soon be taking a big hit to what they can access across the 716? If a trend that is happening around the country hits Western New York, Big Brother will have one less tool to use to track you around the streets of the Empire State.

It's sometimes hard to believe, but it's been more than 10 years since police agencies in Western New York started to deploy ALPR cameras around the region. ALPRs, or Automatic License Plate Readers, are devices that can be mounted on police cars or fixed on poles or on the roadside to scan the license plates of all cars passing by. These readers capture, at minimum, the license plate number of a car as well as its date, time, and location.

According to the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), which has been tracking the use of APLRs around the state, these devices pose a huge risk to the liberty of innocent New Yorkers.

Are The Days Numbered For The License Plate Cameras In Western New York?

One of the major issues and concerns about these cameras is the rules surrounding what data is collected and who has access to the data after it has been collected by the government.

According to Investigative Post, the data is stored for a year and can only be used for law enforcement purposes. But more details are sketchy because officials from the Buffalo Police Department do not have, or will not release, their official policy that controls how the devices are used.

Over the last few weeks, police agencies have been shutting down their ALPR network because citizens have been demanding access to the data. After a Superior Court ruling in Washington ordered police agencies to turn over the data, they decided to shut down their camera network.

In her ruling, Washington Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Neidzwski specifically said the data collected by these cameras is public record and is available to the people. In response to that ruling, not only did some police agencies in Washington just shut off thier camera network, now some officials in New York State are saying enough is enough.

What do you think? Should New York law enforcement agencies be able to have a searchable database that is able to track your car, no matter where it goes in the region? Or is that too much power and information for the government to have?

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The New York Department of Motor Vehicles rejected over 3,000 vanity plate applications in 2023. Reasons included obscenity, references to sexual or intimate body parts, or because they could be confused as an official plate.

Some of these plates are NSFW.

Gallery Credit: Megan

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9 License Plate Violations You Can Be Ticketed For In New York

Believe it or not, there are several ways your license plates could get you a ticket if they are not displayed correctly. Some are obvious, others not so much even if you think your plates are perfectly visible to law enforcement. Here are 9 things to watch out for so you can avoid a ticket for a licence plate violation, according to Rosenblum Law.

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Source: Are The Days Numbered For The License Plate Cameras In Western New York?