City police's tag scanner finds stolen cars

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Ironic - September 2, 2008

I missed my own typo of the word 'guarantee' despite noting someone else's when I quoted it. Doh!

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Mike C. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

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good and bad - August 31, 2008

It frees a police officer up to do an other duty, but it's taking the human elemant out of the equation (computers are not perfect). News to everyone, when you are in public you do not have a reasonable right to privacy any one can take a picture of you. There is a database on everyone but it's limited and I can garuntee you the state of MD does not have the storage capacity to keep records on any more people than they have to.

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George Herlth III - Catonsville, MD - Karma: Bad

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Mr. Harmion - August 30, 2008

No, I have no connection to APD, the maker of the system, or anyone "with inside knowledge". I'm just someone who read the story and formed an opinion. What you read on the manufacturer's site is all well and good - if that component is being used by APD. Just because it is an available feature doesn't mean APD has it. And if they do, so what? I would suspect the police are not really interested that you go to, say, Safeway every Saturday. If you are concerned that your car may be on Candid Camera, perhaps the city bus is an option as long as you don't mind not having air condition. Have a safe (and anonymous) holiday weekend!

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Jeffrey O. - Pasadena, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Comment removed by HometownAnnapolis staff. - August 29, 2008

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How do you know Jeff O? - August 28, 2008

FROM THE COMPANY WEB SITE: "The data collection capabilities of the Mobile Plate Hunter-900 (MPH-900) Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) have proven invaluable to investigative and criminal intelligence efforts. In addition to the color photograph showing the plate, the car and its immediate surroundings, the license plate reader also records the date and time of each capture, along with the GPS coordinates of each vehicle?s location when the photo is taken. Careful review of this information for relevant periods of time can lead to: > Pattern recognition > Placing a suspect at a scene > Watch list development > Identifying witnesses > Possible visual clues revealed within the image of a car?s immediate environment"..... Clearly the system has the capability to record more data than is at the MVA (i.e. database), what is unclear is how much data is recorded and for how long the data is kept? So Jeffrey O, may I ask if are you speaking as an official with the APD or are you someone with inside expert knowledge? Or is this you opinion? You have already indicated in an earlier post that you do not know all the capabilities of the system when you wrote that the data is "already available at MVA". I am concerned where you get your information about the database and APD.

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sean harmion - annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

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He shakes his head... - August 28, 2008

Folks, again, there is no "new massive database". According the the article, it checks plates against the EXISTING database of stolen tags / cars and expired registrations / insurance. It merely automates an existing process of manually entering each tag you wish to check. It appears to save time, increase the vehicles checked, and allows officers to maintain their focus on driving and not tapping on a keyboard. It also indicates that once there is a "hit" the officer must call in and VERIFY the the record is correct. I'm not sure what the nay sayers are looking for here. The police can only act on the information in front of them. If the information is wrong, you have your day in court to make it right. Yes, that may be unfortunate but life is rough. I once received a red light camera ticket because the reviewer mis-read the tag and confused a "Y" for a "V" on my organizational tag. Going to court for a simple human error was a pain but such is life. I wasn't looking at the electric chair and neither are the folks with the tag reader.

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Jeffrey O. - Pasadena, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Sigh.... - August 28, 2008

Ok, this hot new system A) assumes guilt...and B) is tied to a database administered by MVA employees, the bastions of effeciency and perfection that they are. So, some data entry clerk in Glen Burnie wrongly enters your tag as having an insurance lapse, the HOT NEW SYSTEM flags you, and you come out of the Mall and your car is towed away...and you never had a chance to even show the officer your insurance card, or offer proof that you are in fact insured. you have to pay the towing and impound fees, lose hours of productive time, and are basically screwed by the system....yeah, sounds like a good idea to me...leaving human discretion out of the loop is always a good idea.

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Gideon W. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Maybe that works in Texas - August 28, 2008

?There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live?did live, from habit that became instinct?in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.? - George Orwell....

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sean harmion - annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

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Scanners - August 28, 2008

I was hit by a man without insurance and in a stole car. It took me over a year to recover my expenses, and I had to get another car. While my car was towed, someone stole all my son's clothing that was in the car, I was on my way to the laundry. And I'm still paying for a health bill today. The young man never saw a day in jail. I'm glad they are cracking down on stolen cars and tags. Stolen tags is a big business now. And like the last poster said, if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear.

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K. Fox - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

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Nothing New - August 28, 2008

this is nothing new. Police have been running randomly running tags for decades. it is just that in the past they would be behind you on the road and radio it in or use their in car computer. This is just a new tool to accomplish an old task. And for those of you that think your rights and freedoms are being trampled on, if you aren't doing anything wrong then what are you worried about?

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ScotT S. - Mansfield, TX - Karma: Bad

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Oh Jeffrey O. - August 26, 2008

Jeffrey O, you said: Mr. Harmion, ".....we are all already in a big data base - it's called the MVA database. Criminals are also in another big data base - it's called CJIS. Neither of which are anything new....." Although my initial response to your statement was DUH. On a serious level, does the MVA have a report of where you are and when including a photo of you and any occupants in your car? The answer is no. That is the possible EXTRA info that is being generated and possibly saved to database by APD. If you have no problem with APD or any other government entity having any info about you and your whereabouts in a database, that I do not question---but I suspect some other readers may.

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sean harmion - annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

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..some additional points - August 26, 2008

I wish that folks would stop confusing monitoring technology, which simply allows the police to view more people IN PUBLIC in a more efficient, effective manner, from ACTING ON that technology through searches and seizures, charges and arrests. In the latter instances, you do, indeed, have heightened constitutional protections. In other words, if a camera scan provides evidence that links you to a crime, the state still must show that the link provides sufficient probable cause to arrest you, that the camera did not invade (without a proper warrant) an area in which you have a reasonable expectation of privacy, the state must satisfy a court (usually a jury of your peers) that the evidence supports the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, and you may appeal the court?s conviction. In other words, your rights remain intact. That is not to say that the government never acts improperly, or that mere databases obtained by the state from publicly available information cannot be used improperly (see, e.g., the ?no fly? list). But quelling overreaching by the state requires educated, thoughtful challenges by its citizens, not hysterical, misplaced exaggerations that hinder legitimate and beneficial law enforcement efforts while distracting from real civil liberties issues.

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Jeff S. - Arnold, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Scanners are Good - August 26, 2008

Gideon, I hope that you are not an attorney. You would do well (and probably sleep easier) if you better understood your actual rights. The Fourth Amendment (or elsewhere in the Constitution...both MD and Federal) does not prevent police from watching you in public while noting and researching what they observe. Regarding license tag scanning specifically, a federal appeals court already reviewed this issue and found that such scanning does not violate the fourth amendment. Your analogy of searching a home is badly misplaced (as would be an analogy of searching, say, the trunk of a car without probable cause). Inside of dwellings and certain vehicles, courts have found that certain people (usually, but not always exclusively, the owner) do have an expectation of confidentiality. The license tag is at the opposite end of the spectrum. The tag is prominently located on the vehicle?s exterior; the sole purpose of it is to identify your vehicle to the public and the police.

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Jeff S. - Arnold, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Moving vehicles - August 26, 2008

Dave D...I meant to start my last post by pointing out that I have no problem using this system on parked cars, but the article says it is also used on the road to randomly scan moving vehicles as well...that to me is the crux of the problem...and that is where our rights are being violated. Again, it presumes guilt.

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Gideon W. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Hello? Probable cause... - August 26, 2008

The law says that the police need probable cause to pull a vehicle over; anything other than that could be construed as racial/age/gender profiling, random targetting, or worse. Any attorney worth his salt will easily challenge an arrest made using this system based on the no probable cause to run the tag argument, and will win, whether in court or in appeal, depending upon the trial judge. This system unfairly takes advantage of those not saavy enough nor able to afford adequate legal council. Why are people so quick to give up their rights. Our forefathers, and countless generations of soldiers and citizens have died to secure and ensure them.

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Gideon W. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Expectation of Privacy - August 26, 2008

I don't see how you can compare the tags on a car, exposed to public view, being scanned and an entry into your home to be similar. Unless the vehicle being scanned is parked inside a locked garage, there's really should be no expectation of privacy. If you leave it in plain view and no special effort is required to view the plates, then where is the violation of rights?

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Dave D. - Pasadena, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Perspective? - August 26, 2008

Jeffrey, there is no constitutional right that allows you to own or rent a home either...so does that, by your logic, make it OK for the police to enter your domicile without probable cause? What's next, random home searches in the name of catching bad guys and terrorists? Please don't misunderstand me, I am all for catching car thieves and insurance violators, but not at the expense of OUR (law abiding citizens) freedoms and liberties. Much like I am all for catching those who would do harm to my fellow countrymen or those of other nations, but not at the expense of OUR freedoms...those who are willing to so easily give up their rights, apparently don't use or exercise them enough and live their lives filled with and overcome by fear. The odds of dying or even being harmed by crime or terror are infintisimally low...why give up your freedoms for a smidgeon of relief from an unwarranted fear? There is a right way and an easy way to do things, and they are often at odds. I'd rather breathe the air of freedom now by demanding what is ours, than gasp for scraps of it later...it is a slippery slope, but, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

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Gideon Windermere - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Put thing in perspective. - August 25, 2008

Giddion W, there is no constitutional right to drive a car. It is a privilege granted by the state with certain rules that we must abide by in exchange for that privilege. Fail to do so and you may lose your driving privilege. Common sense to me. How would you like to get hit by an uninsured driver? How do you feel about paying your registration fees used to maintain the roads we drive on while someone else uses them for free with their expired registration? Mr. Harmion, we are all already in a big data base - it's called the MVA database. Criminals are also in another big data base - it's called CJIS. Neither of which are anything new.

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Jeffrey O. - Pasadena, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Who needs civil right? - August 25, 2008

The problem with this system is that it is fundamentally violating our constitutional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. There is no probable cause. Just the random running of tag numbers. Is it not bad enough to have Homeland Security and TSA trampling our rights? Now we have Sheriff Andy and Deputy Fife doing it as well.

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Gideon W. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

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Stolen car scanner - August 25, 2008

Great going! I just wish we could find everything else stolen with those scanners, like bikes and scooters. And for the last posting, if you pay your insurance and keep your tags up to date, you have nothing to fear.

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Kathy Fox - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

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is the tag info stored? - August 24, 2008

The company website says:..........."The data collection capabilities of the Mobile Plate Hunter-900 (MPH-900) Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) have proven invaluable to investigative and criminal intelligence efforts. In addition to the color photograph showing the plate, the car and its immediate surroundings, the license plate reader also records the date and time of each capture, along with the GPS coordinates of each vehicle?s location when the photo is taken. Careful review of this information for relevant periods of time can lead to: > Pattern recognition > Placing a suspect at a scene > Watch list development > Identifying witnesses > Possible visual clues revealed within the image of a car?s immediate environment"..... Are we all in some big database of the APD?

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sean harmion - annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad