A few weekends ago, we spent the better part of an hour watching one of those cable shows about new technology. This particular one featured a town, in the southwest we believe, maybe even south of the border, that had drones in the sky 24/7. The drones recorded neighborhoods from a mile high. At one point, the police found a body in the street, and were able to get the footage from on high, rewind it, and find exactly where the shooters came from. That is, which house.
Police equipment no longer includes deerstalker hats and magnifying glasses. The bad guys have gone technical. The good guys are trying to keep up.
Monday's statewide newspaper featured a story by Clara Turnage concerning traffic cameras in Little Rock, concerning license plate readers, concerning gunshot detectors, concerning privacy. Advocates for privacy say it's all . . . concerning.
License-plate readers capture thousands of numbers every minute and store them for months. Apparently the readers can detect fake license plates, and those on stolen vehicles. Our considered editorial opinion: Good for the cops.
Privacy is always a concern when new technology begins giving government workers the ability to track the rest of us. But in some neighborhoods, law and order is a bigger concern.
One person quoted in Monday's article said Arkansas law prohibits private entities from using license plate readers, but the collection of license plates throughout the days means "the vast majority of data" gathered is from civilians with no reason to be investigated by police.
Yes indeed. But the vast majority of us who give up fingerprints to school boards for background checks, or to DHS for foster care work, or to the FBI for other purposes will never be linked to a crime, either. And shouldn't worry.
For goodness' sake, in one 150-day period recently, Little Rock's license plate readers recorded nearly 3,000 hits on stolen vehicles. Talk about a useful tool. (Not that there were that many stolen cars in Little Rock during that time, mind you. One car can go by several readers before cops pull it over.)
What would North Little Rock's police and Samantha Olson's family give for a particular license plate of a truck going down JFK in August 2013? And that's just one example. There are neighborhoods in some cities--large and small--that need this technology. And it needs to be publicized, too. It could serve as a deterrent, and even prevent crimes.
We are reminded of the aftermath of 9/11, when the federal government began taking more steps to protect We the People from terrorists. Some civil liberty types spoke up back then, saying they were "concerned" about privacy matters. When, of all people, Newt Gingrich made this argument in the papers: You think the PATRIOT Act gives law enforcement more power now? You're not going to believe what the American people will demand be given authorities if another Sept. 11th, 2001, happens on these shores.
Privacy? When gunshots go off down the street, or when somebody walks outside to see skid marks where his car was, privacy isn't the first thing to come to mind. Law and order might be.
Too many people, and not just in Little Rock, are dying with their rights on. If police are using all the technology at their power to stop that, many of us will be on the sidelines, cheering them on.
Editorial on 04/02/2019