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What Happens When Police License Plate Readers Make Mistakes? (theverge.com) 234

Posted by EditorDavid from the guilty-until-proven-innocent dept.
An anonymous reader writes: The Verge reports that San Francisco Bay Area police "pulled over a California privacy advocate and held him at gunpoint after a database error caused a license plate reader to flag a car as stolen, a lawsuit alleges." Brian Hofer, the chairman of Oakland's Privacy Advisory Commission, was handcuffed and surrounded by multiple police cars, and says a police deputy injured his brother by throwing him to the ground. They were finally released -- 40 minutes later. But ironically, Hofer has been a staunch critic of license plate readers, "which he points out have led to wrongful detentions, invasions of privacy and potentially costly lawsuits." (California bus driver Denise Green was detained at gunpoint when her own car was incorrectly identified as stolen -- leading to a lawsuit which she eventually settled for nearly $500,000.) And at least one thief simply swapped license plates with an innocent driver.

The executive director of Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, a state government program, acknowledged that the accuracy rate of the license plate readers is about 90 percent, yet "added that in some cases, the technology has actually exonerated people, or given potential suspects alibis. But there is no way for the public to know just how effective the license plate reader technology is in capturing criminals" -- apparently because police departments aren't capturing that data. Only one of the region's police departments, in Piedmont, California, reported its "efficacy metrics" to the agency -- with 7,500 "hits" which over 11 months led to 28 arrests (and the recovery of 39 cars) after reading 21.3 million license plates. The license plate readers cost $20,000 per patrol car.

In Hofer's case, he was driving a rental car which had previously been reported as stolen but then later recovered -- though for some reason the police or rental car agency failed to update their database. But he criticizes the fact that "somebody could pull a gun on your because of an alert that a computer system gave them."
"They're just pulling guns and going cowboy on us," Hofer says. "It's a pretty terrifying position to be in....

"This is happening more frequently than it should be. They're not ensuring the accuracy of their data and people's lives are literally at risk."
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What Happens When Police License Plate Readers Make Mistakes? More

What Happens When Police License Plate Readers Make Mistakes?

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  • Why can't they assess the situation better? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ZorinLynx ( 31751 ) on Saturday February 23, 2019 @03:55PM (#58169948) Homepage

    Rather than going in guns blazing and injuring people with excessive force, why not just pull the car over and talk to the people?

    If they are going to be violent or belligerent it would be quite obvious.

    The one time police pulled me over because I was driving the same kind of car as someone they were looking for, they just walked up, told me to keep my hands visible (this is sensible) and talked to me, calmly asked for my ID, ran it and said "you're free to go" once they realized I wasn't the person. No guns out, no "GET OUT OF THE CAR!!", no being wrestled to the ground.

    Police have gotten way too gung-ho lately, it's time to dial that back a few dozen pegs.

    • Re:Why can't they assess the situation better? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by JaredOfEuropa ( 526365 ) on Saturday February 23, 2019 @04:15PM (#58170018) Journal
      Is that really the norm these days? I had one run-in with a US cop but that was ages ago: he pulled me over for running a 4 way stop (red blinking traffic light, I didn't even know what the hell that meant, and assumed it was the same as blinking yellow). It was the middle of the night on a quiet street, but the cop didn't seem overly concerned for his safety. No guns, no shouting, just a polite chat (and he let me off with a warning).

      Pretty much what I'd expect of a normal cop. But then again I suppose the same could happen over here. Our cops generally do not pull out their guns unless there is an immediate and clear threat, but if the call comes down about armed suspects fleeing the scene and an ANPR matches the plate, you better believe that they will take similar precautions i.e. take cover and order the driver out of the car at gunpoint.

      • Re:Why can't they assess the situation better? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Saturday February 23, 2019 @04:56PM (#58170150) Homepage Journal

        Is that really the norm these days? I had one run-in with a US cop but that was ages ago

        My experience is that the worse they think they can treat you, the worse they treat you. As a kid I got busted for vandalism twice. Actually did it once, in Santa Cruz. White kid in a white neighborhood, no ID because of my age, got treated very well. Didn't do it the second time, still white in a white neighborhood but also a poor one, Lakeport. Got cuffed and put in the front seat of a shitty little Impala (the FWD kind) with my face against the dash where I could have been killed (neck snapped) by the airbag in a collision. That cop was a SWAT team member who eventually got kicked off the force for failing to turn in drug evidence, instead giving it to underage girls and fucking them. I got the full story on him years later when I brought it up with a friend of mine, who actually knows two of the girls in question personally, but everyone knew he was crooked.

        My first traffic stop, which was literally for nothing, involved two cops pointing guns in my face, with fingers on triggers. I was in a brown chevy citation so I guess they figured I couldn't afford a lawyer — which was a correct assumption. But over the years, they've harassed me less. Got pulled over at about 30 years old in a way rattier-looking 240SX with patchy paint and no bumper cover but with the bumper installed, cop tried to tell me I had no bumper. I explained to him that I did have a bumper but no cover, and he gave back my license and I drove away. More recently, a CHP stopped on the side of the road and helped me do a tire change, it was hot AF out so I was exhausted, and my shitty little Audi jack had folded up and tried to kill me. Luckily, I wasn't dumb enough to be under the car at the time. We used his jack, and he even did part of the work.

        if the call comes down about armed suspects fleeing the scene and an ANPR matches the plate, you better believe that they will take similar precautions i.e. take cover and order the driver out of the car at gunpoint.

        If they're behind the vehicle, and the driver doesn't appear to be fleeing, maybe they should use their twin spherical plate readers (you know, their eyes) to double-check the information before endangering citizens' lives by pointing loaded guns at them. As a gun owner, and son of a US Marine, I learned before I was even out of grade school that you don't point a gun at anything you don't intend to kill, and you don't put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to shoot. And in fact, questions reflecting those facts are present on the test that Californians have to pass in order to secure permission to purchase a firearm. But somehow, the cops get it wrong again and again, with the result that they shoot innocent people again and again. Why are the cops held to a lower standard than the rest of us, when they have such a higher level of power and authority? That's ass-backwards.

        • Everything in your post seems to pull together one picture: your experience with the cop totally depends on which specific cop you run into. If you're in a police district where they conscientiously train people how to behave and how to treat people in the area, I can imagine treatment being more consistent, but your experience sounds somewhat random. Or maybe improves with age?

          • Re:Why can't they assess the situation better? (Score:4, Insightful)

            by Mr D from 63 ( 3395377 ) on Saturday February 23, 2019 @06:21PM (#58170436)
            As it turns out, cops are people. Like all other people, most are good, some are awesome, and some are assholes.

            • As it turns out, cops are people. Like all other people, most are good, some are awesome, and some are assholes.

              Yeah, except their average tends to be significantly less intelligent than the citizenry they are allegedly protecting. Most estimates put the current average IQ of US LE officers at around 93. Why? Because of various boneheaded court decisions. Jordan v New London sided with the police, in that they could set a maximum IQ for hiring. Doesn't matter that their reason for it - a belief that smarter people left the force more quickly - turned out to be wrong. That precedent led to most departments adopt

              • As it turns out, cops are people. Like all other people, most are good, some are awesome, and some are assholes.

                Yeah, except their average tends to be significantly less intelligent than the citizenry they are allegedly protecting. Most estimates put the current average IQ of US LE officers at around 93. Why? Because of various boneheaded court decisions. Jordan v New London sided with the police, in that they could set a maximum IQ for hiring. Doesn't matter that their reason for it - a belief that smarter people left the force more quickly - turned out to be wrong. That precedent led to most departments adopting the same standards - basically, people over scoring over 110 need not apply.

                The second is the still controversial concept of 'qualified immunity', as set in Harlow v Fitzgerald. Which has been leveraged, hammered, and beaten into the current unrecognizable form. Ignorantia juris non excusat - ignorance of the law is no excuse ... EXCEPT if you are a cop! Cases like Pauly v White are now the norm - if the cop thought they were enforcing the law, then they are excused from all wrongdoing, including killing innocent people. This has led to most cops going out of their way to remain ignorant of the actual law. Because - obviously - if you actually knew the law, then you could be held liable for violating it.

                Sure, there are a lot of good cops ... the problem is that the trend is going the other way

                IQ? Seriously?

                You are trying too hard.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by jaa101 ( 627731 )

              As it turns out, cops are people. Like all other people, most are good, some are awesome, and some are assholes.

              The problem is that the culture prevents the good and the awesome from keeping the "assholes" under control. And "assholes" doesn't really cover it when we're talking about serious criminal activity that causes massive harm to the victims.

            • Like all other people, most are good, some are awesome, and some are assholes.

              I prefer the theory (preferred by a cop) that 15% are good, 15% are bad, and the remainder are followers who will go along with whatever is going on. Cop shops deliberately hire those who will follow orders, but sometimes they accidentally employ free thinkers.

              • And you are free to believe whatever you want to make up, regardless of supporting information.

                • And you are free to believe whatever you want to make up, regardless of supporting information.

                  Police abuse across America is the supporting information. This is the safest time to be a cop in America in history, but they are murdering more of us than ever before. This stuff isn't a secret, the mainstream news has covered it.

            • Re: (Score:3)

              by sjames ( 1099 )

              The problem is that the assholes are allowed to draw a gun on people and even rough them up a little with no consequences. When it isn't warranted, that's called assault with a deadly weapon and battery, respectively.

          • I can imagine treatment being more consistent, but your experience sounds somewhat random. Or maybe improves with age?

            Yeah, sorry, I didn't make clear that these events were mentioned chronologically. As I've aged, I've had better results. And it's not because I ever thought it was cute to mouth off to cops or anything like that, because I never did, and never have done. As in, I literally have never got mouthy with a cop in my whole life. The closest I've ever gotten is about five years back when a cop was giving me a shitty ticket (I DID stop for the stop sign, he said I didn't, it was horse shit) and then proceeded to t

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Kohath ( 38547 )

          But somehow, the cops get it wrong again and again, with the result that they shoot innocent people again and again. Why are the cops held to a lower standard than the rest of us, when they have such a higher level of power and authority? That's ass-backwards.

          As the years pass and crime rates continue to drop [wikipedia.org], the percentage of people who remember ever having a positive interaction with police will dwindle to a very few. Couple this with the fact that everyone carries a video camera with them at all times, plus all the other cameras everywhere, to catch every police misdeed and publish it to the world instantly.

          These trends should eventually lead voters to enact reforms — maybe in the late 2020s or early 2030s.

          You can see it starting [hotair.com] already. (I won't ta

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by e3m4n ( 947977 )

          I find the areas with the strictest gun control have the most asshole, abusive cops. Where I live we have very few restrictions, about to pass constitutional carry, and most people already have a CCDW permit. In fact it shows up when they run a plate that the owner has a ccdw. The result is we have some of the most polite law enforcement around. Our state troopers have a reputation for being able to talk someone into a set of handcuffs. Whenever you have a system of one group of people, put in charge to p

          • I find the areas with the strictest gun control have the most asshole, abusive cops.

            Y'all are going to have to produce the citations for that, my man. Meanwhile, here's one for you:

            https://www.worldatlas.com/art... [worldatlas.com]

            The top ten in reverse order are:

            10. West Virginia

            9. California

            8. Alaska

            7. Montana

            6. Wyoming

            5. Nevada

            4. Arizona

            3. Oklahoma

            2. District of Columbia

            1. New Mexico

            According to your experience, California and DC and New York should be 1 through three, but New York isn't even on the list.

            What do you think? Liberal hogwash?

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by e3m4n ( 947977 )

              In what universe does killed by cops equate to being a bully and an asshole? Bullies dont kill their victims, it ruins the whole power trip. I thought this was a form for thinkers? Surely you can see this right? Try living somewhere where the vast majority the population is armed. You will find some very polite police officers.

              • As I suspected, you have no citations, only my stats getting you really pissed off. Produce the citations, or you're just another gun nut, beholden to the NRA and it's Russian backers.

                Here's your idea of a polite society, Afghanistan, where even the children are armed http://images.mid-day.com/2013... [mid-day.com] I'm certain that you can get a free all expenses pad vacation there, even a free rifle for your collection. A very peaceful place.

                I'm not a liberal, and I'm armed. But you and your ilk make gun owners l

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by e3m4n ( 947977 )

                  Citation? I clearly said it was my personal experience. I have been stationed in many states. In order of residence

                  Orlando, FL
                  Windsor, CT
                  Boston, MA
                  Almeda, CA
                  Hayward, CA
                  Bremerton, WA
                  San Leandro, CA
                  Chattanooga, TN
                  Lexington, KY
                  I realize reading is didficult for you and spelling is worse. You made a spelling error

                  I'm a liberal, and pretend to be a gun owner. I couldnt fight my way out of a paper bag and 100% behind turning my town into a police state. Obviously I suffer TDS and blame the Russians for everything. My last name is McCarthy.

                  Fixed that for you

                  • Citation? I clearly said it was my personal experience. I have been stationed in many states. In order of residence

                    Ohhhh, an opinion backed by nothing! Well now, you know what they say about opinions. Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one, and most of them stink. That dear child would be yours. Other's opinions differ, Others quote facts. I like facts, I like stats. Sumtymez I lyke spelink errs. Especially when they become half of your argument against me. Good day sir, come back when you can do something more than spout an opinion.

          • Our state troopers have a reputation for being able to talk someone into a set of handcuffs.

            That should be how all cops work, and I'm blown away why we don't demand that of them.

            And it doesn't require fear of getting shot for that to be the cop culture. England has a real tradition of friendly bobbies being able to talk people into coming down to the station to discuss what they did wrong. Instead of fear of getting shot, their motivation stems from the fact that they are very likely to live in the communities they serve, and spend a lot of time on foot talking to people in those communities. They

      • Is that really the norm these days? I had one run-in with a US cop but that was ages ago: he pulled me over for running a 4 way stop (red blinking traffic light, I didn't even know what the hell that meant, and assumed it was the same as blinking yellow). It was the middle of the night on a quiet street, but the cop didn't seem overly concerned for his safety. No guns, no shouting, just a polite chat (and he let me off with a warning).

        Sounds like my experience. It was late and I was doing about 80 on a des

      • Is that really the norm these days?

        There are no norms. That's part of the problem actually.

        In the US, the police isn't centralized, it's more a patchwork of overlapping responsibilities and jurisdictions. Even the police academies are not uniform. So you can have one town with perfectly reasonable and well trained police officers, but another town just next to it with police officers that are power hungry and/or complete idiots.

        • On top of that they don't even all use the same light colors on emergency vehicles. I grew up in the NE US where there are a lot of small states, and it was always a game when driving through several in a day to figure out what was coming up behind you. Police? Fire? Ambulance? Flashing Green and White? WTF is that?

    • Rather than going in guns blazing and injuring people with excessive force, why not just pull the car over and talk to the people?

      If they are going to be violent or belligerent it would be quite obvious.

      Guns weren't blazing, first of all.(Thank God.)

      Anyway, the problem with that is that it might only become obvious when you walk up to the car calmly and then the occupant of the car shoots you.

      I'm not saying they handled this right, but let's not be overly glib about what's involved. It sounds like the license plate reader worked correctly, but the database hasn't been updated. There was reason to suspect that the car was stolen, and that the occupants might be hostile.

      Again, not saying this was handled

      • Again, not saying this was handled right, but let's be honest about what was involved.

        There is the old dictum - shoot first, and let God work out the details. That is as honest as it gets.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kohath ( 38547 )

      Because they don’t give a shit about the safety of non-police.

      They don’t care because they don’t have to.

    • I once was pulled over by one of the license plate readers, but it wasn't actually misread, a cop had fat-fingered the entry and put in my plate instead of the real criminal. He walked up pretty calmly for a chat. The suspect was Hispanic, so he knew right away I wasn't the person they were looking for. The car also didn't match the make/model which also probably helped. I had to call around to a few different police stations to track down where the warrant came from to fix it, that was fun.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mspohr ( 589790 )

      Let me guess. You're not black.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by bferrell ( 253291 )

      Obviously you haven't seen (or don't care about) recent the body cam video of a traffic stop in Vallejo California where the driver turned to "get his license" and got off two rounds before the another officer shot him.

      I love the one where the guy was on his back, hands up, was told to stay put and he rolled toward the gun... And people wonder why the cop shot him. All on body cam footage.

      Yes, the cops are more than a little "high strung"... Try getting shot at yourself once or twice and show me how calm

      • Obviously you haven't seen (or don't care about) recent the body cam video of a traffic stop in Vallejo California where the driver turned to "get his license" and got off two rounds before the another officer shot him.

        Stuff like that is why the cop is supposed to stand behind the A-pillar, and if there are multiple suspects in the vehicle, they are supposed to get backup before approaching... and lots of other rules I don't know. There were literally video games about this back in the eighties [wikipedia.org], the first three (and especially the first two) of which focus on correct police procedure. You literally can't win the games without it. Instead of teaching correct procedure, apparently, police academies spend their time teaching [thedailybeast.com]

    • '“The Deputy Sheriffs involved in this case followed procedure and acted appropriately,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said in a statement'.

      Since the deputies clearly acted unconstitutionally, the logical implication of the spokesperson's statement is that the relevant procedure is illegal.

      Now where have I seen a parallel case where a low-level employee acted illegally and tried to excuse his behaviour by claiming that he was simply following orders?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by jythie ( 914043 )
      Because they keep seeing 'cops are in danger' on TV, and their union bosses tell them 'you are always in danger', then they hire expensive motivational speakers and trainers (who just happen to be ex-cops) to come in and scare all the cops into believing they are constantly in danger and thus they must use excessive force 'just in case'.

      Police anxiety is surprisingly profitable.
    • They watch too many cop shows on TV and think they are documentaries and cannot separate real life from fiction

    • Lots of points of response here.
      "Rather than going in guns blazing and injuring people with excessive force, why not just pull the car over and talk to the people?"
      First, considering no guns were fired, "blazing" might be a touch overstated, yeah?
      Secondly, they DO 'just pull the car over and talk to people' thousands and thousands and thousands of times per day. How many times do you think that makes the news?

      "If they are going to be violent or belligerent it would be quite obvious."
      Really? You know that

    • it's time to dial that back a few dozen pegs.

      You misspelled Pigs.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by e3m4n ( 947977 )

      Its California, it makes no sense. My favorite rebuttal to their gun control debate is: Wait, you think the police are racist, excessive force, bullys on a power trip; politicians are corrupt; and the military does the bidding of mega corporations. Yet you insist they are tge only ones who should get to have guns?

      Btw most readers use an IR based technology. Buy this product called VEIL G5 and protect yourself from both LIDAR and plate readers.

  • Traffic court with limited rights for tickets / missed tolls if they miss tag you.

  • Irony (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Kunedog ( 1033226 ) on Saturday February 23, 2019 @03:59PM (#58169956)

    But ironically, Hofer has been a staunch critic of license plate readers

    That's just wisdom, bearing itself out. Irony would be previous support/praise of plate readers on his part.

    • that a vocal opponent of license plate readers gets "accidentally" flagged as an ultra violent criminal? Small world, eh? What are the odds?

      • Yup, exactly this. In the recent spate of false hate crime reports to push a political agenda, I have trouble accepting this as random coincidence.

        My tinfoil hat isn't tuned in on any specific frequency; I'd be equally unsurprised to find that either he was recognized and given "special" treatment or that it was a routine stop that he exaggerated for publicity.

  • Wrong problem (Score:5, Insightful)

    by wonkavader ( 605434 ) on Saturday February 23, 2019 @03:59PM (#58169958)

    You can argue about the plate technology, but the obvious big issue here is that the police help unarmed suspects at gunpoint. We have a severe police hiring, training, and discipline problem.

    • Re:Wrong problem (Score:5, Insightful)

      by chrism238 ( 657741 ) on Saturday February 23, 2019 @04:11PM (#58170004)
      According to the summary:

      In Hofer's case, he was driving a rental car which had previously been reported as stolen but then later recovered

      So, the licence plate reader was working perfectly, it was the database behind it that was in error, because humans had not updated the information. This article's title is unrelated to the story.

    • It sounds like you've watched too many westerns and want to turn every arrest into a quick-draw showdown ...

    • >"You can argue about the plate technology"

      Indeed. Mass surveillance is certainly worth arguing about.

      >"but the obvious big issue here is that the police help unarmed suspects at gunpoint. We have a severe police hiring, training, and discipline problem."

      +1 From the description, the police were grossly overreacting and also breaking the law. And what if those innocent citizens were legally armed and their "database" indicated the vehicle had been in a robbery or murder? How much worse could it hav

    • about police militarization [youtube.com].

      One of the consequences of Getting "Tough on Crime" nobody talks about.

  • What's that all about? Every incident brings police from miles around. I watched a homeless person being interrogated by a cop at around 5 am. Within 15 minutes there were six patrol cars blocking other traffic while the cops stood around in a huddle. Some citizens gathered too, as usual.

    These cops have nothing else to do? They know that the situation is under control yet they flock together at every opportunity. Are they lonely?

    A smart entrepreneur would put together a mobile donut truck and a police scann

    • I don't know about the US but in my city the cars only have one officer in them. So you need at least a second car at a scene to have a backup for the first officer. Normally the police just get a call about a disturbance or someone causing a problem or something like that. They don't know the scale of the problem so everyone nearby goes to the scene. Better to have too many people there and not need them rather than need someone and not have them. Mind you they do tend to stick around too long after they k

      • I don't know about the US but in my city the cars only have one officer in them. So you need at least a second car at a scene to have a backup for the first officer. Normally the police just get a call about a disturbance or someone causing a problem or something like that. They don't know the scale of the problem

        They do if they're paying attention. The first reporting officer will give the number of persons involved.

  • “Ironic”? Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Saturday February 23, 2019 @04:33PM (#58170086)

    This is pretty much exactly the OPPOSITE of ironic.

    He was already a critic of these devices - and now he has been provided with additional supporting evidence as to why they are bad.

    It would’ve been ironic (in the colloquial sense) had he previously been a gung-ho supporter of police’s use of license plate scanners.

  • I wonder how long it will be ... (Score:3)

    by PinkyGigglebrain ( 730753 ) on Saturday February 23, 2019 @05:00PM (#58170166)
    You just know that someone is going to die because they get pulled over due to a false positive and some trigger happy brown shirt [wikipedia.org] over reacts when the detained person sneezes and starts shooting?

    Then the rest of the Police force will close ranks and defend it as a "justified" action and the worst the officer gets is some paid leave while it blows over while the victim's family gets nothing.

    You know it is only a mater of time,

  • I'll bet my eye teeth that everyone in the Northern California Intelligence Center thinks that "90% accurate" means that there's a 90% chance that anyone pulled over by this system is driving a car they're looking for. In fact, it means no such thing. Not even close. You need three things to make that determination: the false negative rate of the test, the false positive rate of the test, and the probability that any random car you sample is stolen (the "base rate" of stolen cars you're looking for).

    The t

  • Not ANPRs fault (Score:2, Informative)

    by redback ( 15527 )

    Plenty of privacy problems with ANPR, but thats not the problem here.

    The problem is that American Police approach every situation with guns drawn. They are incapable of having a polite adult conversation with a person about an issue out of fear that person might have a gun.

  • Read the review and it really bad. The main person was in a car that had the plate correctly processed. The problem was the car had been reported stolen but after being returned was not cleared from the police database.
    Then I looked at the source, the verge, and knew it was a worthless article missing up true events with false interpretation and events.
  • and say I'm dead, and the asshats that shot me get off scott free. I'll bet that covers 90% of the scenarios.

    The militarization of the police was a huge mistake that should be corrected ASAP. Not holding my breath tho, the cops seem to be hiring a bunch of shoot first ask questions later cowards. See the guy in Florida from a day or two ago. 911 told him to flag down the police. He did, and the cop shot him through his fucking windshield. This my friends is cowardice in action with absolutely no re

  • Laws to handle this situation incoming in 3 ... 2 ... 1. Something along the lines of you not being able to sue the cops for computer errors. A more subtle approach would be for them to outsource the technology to someone else, if they haven't already, and deflecting the lawsuits to them. The required liability insurance is going to make for some very expensive technology.

  • Yeah, but ... (Score:3)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Sunday February 24, 2019 @12:16AM (#58171326)

    ... how stupid do they have to be to accept the ANPR output blindly? If the reader 'hits' on a possible stolen vehicle plate, it's going to dump that data out for the cops to read (so they can actually pull the person over). And once the data comes up, it takes a special kind of moron not to realize that the plate on the car they are stopping doesn't match the screen data. Not to mention model, year, color, etc.

    Now, I've received a red light ticket where the ANPR mistook a 'Q' on a plate for an 'O' and mailed me the ticket with (evidently) no human intervention. Because the vehicle description that came up was for a late model red Chevy Suburban. And my vehicle is a 40 year old green Landcruiser.

  • The headline could have been, "What happens when police make mistakes?"

    The answer is, lives are ruined, people die, and criminals get away. Now what happens when police are the bad guys? Maybe we should focus less on the technology and more on the fact that police will use technology against us. Inevitably.

    There was a football player who asked this question once and lost his entire career over it. Our national habit of putting police on a pedestal has given us a militarized police force who believes i

  • but.. (Score:4, Informative)

    by SuperDre ( 982372 ) on Monday February 25, 2019 @06:43AM (#58175496) Homepage

    the headline doesn't fit the story, there was nothing wrong with the police license plate reader and it didn't make a mistake, it worked perfectly. The mistake was that somebody forgot to update the database. None of the cases in the story support the notion the reader is at fault (so reading the actual licenseplate wrong), the problem lies with the database itself or criminals using duplicate licenseplates (well nobody can do anything about that until there is a way to make a licenseplate really unique so it can't be copied). An officer can't see if the person driving the vehicle is a person who stole the car or not, and having dealt with a lot of criminals who stole cars and didn't go quietly when stopped, you can ofcourse understand why cops react this way when stopping a carthief. Anybody can claim he/she is innocent.
    In this case the people who forgot to inform the car was found should get a fine for not reporting it properly.
    The article just underlines the fact the system actually works..

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