Scanning for interest in policy

Prepare to be scanned, Cedar Rapidians.

Your City Council on Tuesday, 'without council or public comment” as Rick Smith wrote in The Gazette, approved the purchase of two automated license plate scanners for the police department.

Although it may have been accepted with the sort of fanfare usually reserved for approving meeting minutes, it's kind of a big deal. Police will now be able to scan scores of plates as they move about the city, looking for folks with outstanding warrants, stolen cars and other evidence of malfeasance. It's remarkable technology, even if it wasn't remarked upon.

Scanners are a data vacuum, sucking up the whereabouts of all the vehicles they scan. That's a lot of data. And if the council had any questions as to what might become of it, they apparently didn't feel like asking them in public.

The fate of all that data will be left up to Police Chief Wayne Jerman.

'The length of retention of the data obtained by LPRs will be determined by the policy,” Jerman said in a statement emailed to me by public safety spokesman Greg Buelow. 'Policies from various departments who use these tools range from the conclusion of an officer's shift to indefinite retention.”

There's a lot of ground between a shift and forever. Jerman points out the ACLU recommends tossing the data after seven days 'unless a longer period is required by the department's evidence policy, by court order, or by law.”

'I am planning to discuss this matter with the city attorney to assist the development of our policy which will be in place before LPR's going into operation,” Jerman said. 'Access to LPR data will be restricted to law enforcement purposes only.”

Will public input be part of the policymaking process? Buelow said it hasn't been discussed, but Jerman might seek advice from the council's Public Safety Committee.

I know this is another great leap forward in law enforcement technology that I'm not supposed to worry about. Why worry if you're not doing anything wrong, am I right?

Scanners are valuable tools. I can see why Jerman has sought them for a couple of years. But rules shaping the use of scanners strike me as important public policy. You'd think the council would want to weigh in. You'd think that some residents might have thoughts.

After all, it's a hot topic elsewhere. On Saturday, a Minnesota state law takes effect requiring law enforcement to delete scanner data within 60 days, get warrants to use much of the data and do regular compliance audits. In Virginia, the Republican Legislature approved tight scanner data limits that were vetoed by Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Several states are considering bills.

Among the interests fighting state data storage and use limits are financial services groups hoping to find folks who've defaulted on car loans. Jerman smartly wants to limit access to law enforcement, but will future chiefs be as responsible?

Elected officials, understandably, want to give police tools they need. But they also should want to fully understand how the use of those tools might affect the people they're elected to serve.

l Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com