The Future is Here?

[Jim Koepke]

Saw a link to an article about the area I used to call home.

https://www.grandviewindependent.com/rpd-reporting-success-with-license-plate-readers/

501928

Right next door the City of San Pablo has even more readers installed. That is the city next to the unincorporated area of my old residence.

jtk

[Dave Lehnert]

Saw a link to an article about the area I used to call home.

https://www.grandviewindependent.com/rpd-reporting-success-with-license-plate-readers/

501928

Right next door the City of San Pablo has even more readers installed. That is the city next to the unincorporated area of my old residence.

jtk

Local police just installed them here.

[Mike Henderson]

I don't have any problem with them. If you go to London, you'll be seen by a lot of those kind of cameras.

Mike

[Dick Strauss]

There are big privacy issues with these devices! All of this information is stored for "future use" whatever that may be.

[Tom M King]

I remember visiting friends up in Maryland near D.C. and they had these ten years or so ago. There was no pushing red lights. Cars slammed on brakes when a light turned yellow.

The same sort of reaction in speed zones. Most were driving a mile or two an hour under the speed limit.

[Zachary Hoyt]

To quote the late John Prine:
"We are living in the future,
I tell you how I know.
I read it in the paper
fifteen years ago.
We're all driving rocket ships,
talking with our minds,
wearing turquoise jewelry,
and standing in soup lines."

[Jim Koepke]

There are big privacy issues with these devices! All of this information is stored for "future use" whatever that may be.

In one respect it might be available as an alibi if a person is ever alleged to have been in one place when a traffic cam can put them in another.

jtk

[Bill Howatt]

In one respect it might be available as an alibi if a person is ever alleged to have been in one place when a traffic cam can put them in another.

jtk

Very commonly used to substantiate or invalidate an alibi on TV detective shows :).

[Bill George]

Yeah I got caught and to the tune of $120, Hannibal, MO. The big issue I see, the ticket goes to the Owner of the car... not the Driver!

[Michael Weber]

Cameras used to issue traffic violations are wildly unpopular among citizenry where they are used. As Bill points out the ticket is issue to the owner not the driver. Also, AFAIK the systems are owned or at least administered by private companies. Their goal of course being to maximize profits. The result being a lot of boarder line if not totally unwarranted citations. They often got removed due to citizen protest. A few years back the town I call home tried to implement this. It was never implemented due to citizen protest.

[Jim Koepke]

Yeah I got caught and to the tune of $120, Hannibal, MO. The big issue I see, the ticket goes to the Owner of the car... not the Driver!

That is one reason to not let anyone else drive my truck. I might make an exceptions for family.

We did have school zone speed cameras here. The public complained about sometimes not getting a ticket for 90 days. The cameras were removed. We still have red light cameras at various intersections in the city attached to my zip code. The adjoining city doesn't use them.

Longview and Kelso intertwine in areas. There has been talks of merging the two cities. But of course that would mean half of the bureaucrats could lose their job.

jtk

[Mike Henderson]

There are big privacy issues with these devices! All of this information is stored for "future use" whatever that may be.

What are the privacy issues? The fact that you were in a certain public place at a certain time doesn't seem to be much of a threat. Your smartphone tracks you and no one seems to make a big issue about that. And your smartphone tracks you everywhere - in non-public places as well as public places.

In any case, if you read the article, it said that the data is purged after a reasonable time.

Mike

[Jim Koepke]

There are big privacy issues with these devices! All of this information is stored for "future use" whatever that may be.

If you are worried about privacy issues you will likely be surprised to learn many retail establishments use facial recognition with their security cameras to keep track of people.

Even some major grocery chains use them to help weed out their "regular shoplifters."

Target, Home Depot and Lowes have also used these systems in the past.

jtk

[Thomas McCurnin]

Saves police time, so they can concentrate on more important things than traffic stops. I think they are wonderful and should be installed everywhere.

[Dick Strauss]

In a private establishment/business is one thing...in a public place is another. My Wi-Fi gets turned off when I leave my home. My bluetooth is always off unless there is short term need and then it is turned off immediately after use. I don't have any social media apps on any of my devices. My location data is turned off both on the phone and within any app. If they have security cameras to track me, I can't control that, but I'm not going to allow them to use my phone to help them.

If someone gets a judge to issue a warrant for my phone records, the phone company can give them my approximate location at a given time via triangulation with various towers assuming my phone is powered on. However, they have to have a good reason for the request.

What is a "reasonable amount of time" for the data to be maintained and who decides what is reasonable? What is a reasonable amount of time today may be different tomorrow with such vague language.

We need a real legal framework to guide the use of personal data. A good first step would be something like HIPPA protections where there is a legal repsonsibility not to share the data unless permitted to do so for claim purposes, etc., or as explicitly permitted by the consumer. Europe is taking the lead on the issue of personal privacy and at least they are doing something unlike people from both parties in our current government.

[Stan Calow]

There's a big difference between license plate readers, and red-light cameras. The latter being tools to identify cars that have triggered the camera by running a red light - committing an illegal act. No longer allowed in Missouri. License plate readers can actually identify cars just going by that are being looked for by law enforcement. Say a car owned by a suspected felon, or an Amber Alert suspect*.

License plate readers mounted on police and highway patrol cars have been around here for years. A patrol car can scan a whole parking lot of cars looking for people with outstanding warrants. In fact one of the biggest users of that technology has been the repo man cruising Walmart parking lots.

*in my state, someone who has kidnapped a child, usually a non-custodial parent.

[Bill Dufour]

My town had red light cameras owned and operated by some company in another state. A court case determined the tickets could be ignored since they were not issued by a licensed police officer.
Part of the point of traffic enforcement is to let other drivers know they may be caught. Not telling the driver he is doing something wrong for 30 days does not help.
In California it is possible to get out of a speeding ticket by showing most cars were driving that fast, regardless of the posted speed. If the police do not enforce the law all the time it is no longer the law and you can not be penalized.
Kind of what happened here with marijuana here. It is still illegal but no one enforces the law.
BilL D
BilL D.

[Bill Dufour]

Local grocery chain got bought out by a hedge fund and they shut down the robot delivery service. Too high tech, probably losing money to get it established, starting to see them more and more even here 3 miles from the base store.
Bill D

[Bill George]

My red light ticket was because the light was yellow but then changed to red as I was entering the intersection. I will try to avoid that town in the future. A friend who in the past lived in Hannibal MO said that town has always been a speed trap.

[Bill Dufour]

My red light ticket was because the light was yellow but then changed to red as I was entering the intersection. I will try to avoid that town in the future. A friend who in the past lived in Hannibal MO said that town has always been a speed trap.
Who actually sent the ticket? What police agency signed off on it. Who would show up in court if you contest the ticket?
Bill D

[Ernie Loposser]

A couple red light cameras were installed in S Knoxville close to where I live. It was interesting that the duration of the yellow light seemed much shorter after the camera install. I received a couple "citations" as well as my daughter. The citations were from a third party, not law enforcement, and will not influence your driving record or credit should you fail to pay. I just tossed them in the trash. I went to the address where this "company" was located....it was a little hole in the wall office, no one was there. I thought about sending them a pic of a $100 bill. The cameras are no longer operational...I suppose that after people became aware of what seemed more like a scam, the company went out of business.

[Jim Koepke]

In California it is possible to get out of a speeding ticket by showing most cars were driving that fast, regardless of the posted speed. If the police do not enforce the law all the time it is no longer the law and you can not be penalized.
Kind of what happened here with marijuana here. It is still illegal but no one enforces the law.

"Going with the flow" has been a good defense on speeding tickets. As long as you aren't doing a lot of lane changing and passing everyone else it can get your ticket dismissed. Depending on the officer it might not even get written. From their point of view stop one and it slows all the traffic while they talk to you at the side of the road. That worked for me when living and driving in California. An odd relative of mine was a California Highway Patrol officer. (related through family adoptions) He also told me if you have a good story that the stopping officer never heard before they might let you off. I asked if he stopped me for speeding and I said, "but officer, I wasn't speeding, I may have passed a few people who were, but I wasn't." He chuckled and said that might only give me a "talking ticket."

With marijuana, various states have voted to change the laws. It is still federal law and can be a problem for people who cross a state line to purchase in a legal state and then cross into a state where it is still illegal. Growing or selling without a license can get you in trouble in states where it is legal. Most of the states where it is "legal" want the taxes to be paid.

jtk

[Bill Dufour]

They say a big problem for the legal marijuana stores is banking and what to do with the income. No federal chartered bank wants to get knowingly involved in a federal prohibited business and be called a co- conspirator. So no bank will touch the weed stores money. Thy have yet to figure out how to launder their money to be able to use it except as cash.
Bill D