License Plate Reader Debates Continue In Camden County With All Sorts Of Feedback

Surveillance versus law enforcement…two concepts that clashed late Tuesday afternoon when the Camden County Commission offered up the debate to take public comment about possibly banning license plate readers from being used within the county.

“The idea that you’re driving down the road and at any given time, your license plate will be picked up, videotaped, and automatically matched against a database somewhere. It effectively means that you’re always being surveilled 24hours a day, because you never know when those cameras are on you and when they’re not,” says Second-District Commissioner Don Williams.

He had just one of several thoughts about the issue, which also drew comments from Jefferson City Police Chief Eric Wilde, who spoke about the benefits of catching the bad guys with the plate readers.

The main question seemed to focus on whether plate readers will store or dump information depending on whether the plate being read is identified as possibly leading to a suspect in an alleged crime.

When the conversation ended some two hours later, County Attorney Jeffrey Green was instructed to look into the issue with the sheriff’s office for future review and possible action by the commission.