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Legislation has passed the state Assembly calling for new state guidelines for the use of license plate readers by police officers. <\/p>\n
A.940B passed the Assembly by a 102-44 vote largely along party lines. Both Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, and Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, voted against the legislation. Versions of the bill had been introduced in 2019 and 2020 and didn\u2019t make it out of the Assembly Governmental Operations Committee. <\/p>\n
A companion bill (S685) has been introduced in the state Senate but has not made it out of the Senate Consumer Protection Committee.<\/p>\n
The bill requires the state Municipal Police Training Council, which operates under the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, to develop, maintain and disseminate a minimum standards policy governing the use of automatic license plate reader systems. The minimum standards policy must include provisions on permissible uses of automated license plate reader technology, data sharing and dissemination, prohibited uses, record retention and management, and training. It also calls on the Municipal Police Training Council to recommend to the governor a series of rules and regulations to establish an ongoing training program for all current and new police officers regarding license plate readers along with recommendations for periodic retraining of police officers. <\/p>\n
Several Republicans spoke against the legislation, including Goodell, while no Democrats spoke in favor. But, in her legislative justification, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, noted concerns have been raised over the years in regard to the increasing use of license plate readers. <\/p>\n
\u201cAutomatic License Plate Reader technology has become an increasingly useful tool for law enforcement agencies for the purpose of aiding and assisting in catching criminals,\u201d<\/span> Paulin wrote. \u201cNew Yorkers have always valued privacy and the use of ALPR technology can infringe upon an innocent citizen\u2019s inherent right to privacy. According the American Civil Liberties Union, this technology and data derived from it can essentially map out the entire life of a private citizen who has not committed or even been suspected of any crimes. New York currently does not have uniform standards in place governing the use of ALPRs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Assemblyman Angelo Morinello, R-Niagara Falls, read directly from state guidelines overseeing the use of license plate readers, while Assemblyman Joe Angelino, R-Binghamton and a former police officer, said there have been evolving guidelines since the use of automatic license plate readers began nearly 20 years ago. <\/p>\n \u201cAll of this is already being done,\u201d<\/span> Angelino said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what this burdensome bill is going to do that isn\u2019t already being done. If this is signed into law, I think there are going to be employees at the Division of Criminal Justice Services that are going to see this, look at this and say, \u201c<\/span>OK, and set it aside because it\u2019s stuff they\u2019re already doing. This is sort of like the equivalent of this legislative body coming out with a policy on how we should operate a rotary telephone. We\u2019ve been doing this for 20 years and there\u2019s really no need for this.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, the legislation calls for all state and local enforcement agencies to conspicuously post the minimum standards for the use of automatic license plate reader systems policy on its website or, if the law enforcement agency does not maintain a website, in its main office. The policy would also have to be made available to the public upon request.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes we think, well, what\u2019s the harm of passing a law that codifies, if you will, what we\u2019re already doing,\u201d<\/span> Goodell said. \u201cI would just point out that I have a conference room, and you\u2019re all welcome to visit it anytime you want, I have about a 100 linear feet of McKinneys, about 100 linear feet of New York state statutes. Every time we add more and more it increases the cost to everyone else and makes it more and more difficult to find what\u2019s really important. I would urge my colleagues to keep in mind as the laws and regulations in New York blossom that it creates more and more cost and makes it more and more difficult for people to find what\u2019s really important.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
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