[Infowarrior] - Va. Gov. amends license plate reader bill, angers legislators

[Richard Forno]

Va. Gov. McAuliffe amends license plate reader bill, angers legislators

By Tom Jackman March 27 at 5:50 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/03/27/va-gov-mcauliffe-amends-license-plate-reader-bill-angers-legislators/

A move by Virginia legislators to limit the police use of data from automated license plate readers, and “any surveillance technology” used by law enforcement, hit a bump Friday afternoon when Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) amended the General Assembly’s bill, provoking an angry response from the bill’s sponsors and setting up a showdown next month in Richmond.

The General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a bill last month which would require police to purge the data from license plate readers within seven days, unless they have a warrant or a pending criminal or terrorism case. The readers, typically installed on the back of moving patrol cars, photograph hundreds of license plates per minute and record the time and location each shot was taken. An instant check of databases can determine if a car is stolen or otherwise wanted, but police can also save the data and review it later to see if a suspect was photographed near the scene of a crime or to locate a missing person.

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Civil libertarians balked at the possibilities for abuse and invasion of privacy by law enforcement, and after a story in The Washington Post revealed the ongoing practice by police, legislation was first introduced last year and a bipartisan privacy caucus was launched. This year, bills authored by Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) and Del. Richard L. Anderson (R-Prince William) proposed not only a seven-day limit on data retention for license plate readers but “any surveillance technology,” to include body cameras, dashboard cameras, and any future technology police might devise. The legislation passed the Senate 38-0 and the House 95-4.

But on Friday, McAuliffe changed the seven-day limit to 60 days, and changed “any surveillance technology” to “license plate readers.” Brian Moran, the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, said Friday that he had “been informed by numerous law enforcement agencies that license plate readers result in salient and compelling information. The governor’s amendment…represents a significant compromise by law enforcement. The governor believes 60 days is a more appropriate period of time and reaches a compromise with the legislature that’s reasonable.”

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