[Peace-discuss] Press Release: Ubuntu Project Champaign-Urbana Statement on License Plate Readers

[Gus Wood]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:

October 12, 2021 Gus Wood

4042138355

The Ubuntu Project Urbana-Champaign is disappointed to learn that the
Champaign city council is considering voting to purchase license plate
readers. Considering the well-documented controversial reputation and
questionable value of license plate readers, the Champaign people need more
information on their effectiveness to justify the installation of such
invasive technology. Even more troubling is that the City has not provided
the citizens of Champaign a chance for detailed policy discussions on how
the council will govern the use of these cameras. A vote on October 11
without several public hearings is rushed and lacks transparency.

The problem lies within the use of license plate readers. First, the city
has not presented any verifiable data to prove this technology reduces gun
violence. In fact, CityLab estimates that between 2016 and 2017, 173 law
enforcement agencies collectively scanned 2.5 billion license plates.
However, those same agencies never reported the effect of this technology
on reducing violent crime nor how they used the license plate scans. Also,
the bureau of Justice Statistics states that 93 percent of police
departments in cities with populations of 1 million or more use their own
license plate readers, which can scan an estimated 2,000 plates per minute.
With such widespread use of this equipment, the fact that there are no
reports on its effectiveness is concerning. Interestingly, violent crime
has not “fallen” since the implementation of license plate readers, which
points to a serious contradiction: no decrease in violence, but a drastic
increase in surveillance and the potential for violations of civil
liberties.



The research on this technology also notes high error rates. First, the
technology can produce inaccurate “hot lists,” wrongly identifying
motorists as suspects in the commission of crimes. If hot lists are not
consistently checked, individuals could be pulled over by police for a
false claim of their license being suspended or their car “fitting the
description” of a vehicle wanted in an investigation. Research also shows
that inaccurate license plate reads are very common. A control trial in
Vallejo, California found that close to 37 percent of scans were misreads.
This is an exceptionally high error rate for a “new age” technology. It can
mean life, death, or freedom for individuals. The cameras also do not
account for the fact that many family members and friends, especially in
low-income areas, share cars, putting poorer Black and Brown people at
higher surveillance and risk of misidentification. The NYPD used license
plate readers for its widespread surveillance program of Muslim people in
New York and New Jersey. In the early 2010s in Oakland, California, license
plate readers were placed in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods,
despite the fact that automobile crimes and offenses predominantly occurred
elsewhere in the city! In other words, there is not enough evidence that
license plate readers are safe and less prone to errors to justify their
purchase and use in Champaign. In fact, the evidence suggests this
technology is disproportionately used to target Black and Brown communities.



Second, the current trend in gun violence in Champaign highlights that
shootings are occurring outside of the most densely Black neighborhoods,
the North End of Champaign. Nonetheless, the police plan to surround the
North End with these cameras, creating a virtual penal area. Why would the
cameras not be deployed in the areas where the shootings have occured? Of
what use are the cameras if they are facing away from the desired location?

Third, individuals placed on a “hot list” can have their every move
tracked, if desired. As people across the nation continue to protest police
violence and surveillance, license plate cameras offer more invasive means
to diminish our civil liberties. This is not only incredibly dangerous for
any individuals engaging in social protest, but it will also expand the
conflict between the Black community and the police. Additionally, why
would a people reeling for mass racialized incarceration trust the police’s
claim that the cameras will only be used for “violent crime.” The
technology possesses the capacity to reference vehicles and their owners
who are listed in municipal and federal databases for unpaid parking
tickets or suspected relationships with social and racial justice
organizations.



Fourth, the transparency surrounding the administration of license plate
readers in Champaign County is deeply troubling. We have not received any
information on who has access to the stored data and “hot lists.”? Nor is
it clear whether historical searches into the database require a warrant
documenting probable cause? We also do not know whether the license plate
readers will be layered with other surveillance systems, such as the
University of Illinois’s campus security camera network? The public has not
been informed as to how long the license plate numbers will be stored, who
will perform the audits of the cameras and whether those audits will be
public information. And lastly, the city has not addressed if and how it
will discipline or prosecute those who abuse the license plate readers for
purposes other than searching for those who commit violent crime.



The fact is that the license plate reader company has zero data to show the
effectiveness of these devices while dozens of studies show the dangers of
this technology. Guided by the empirical data, the city council should
delay the vote on adopting these cameras.

Therefore, we call on the Champaign City Council, the elected
representatives of the citizens of Champaign to delay the vote and demand
transparent data on the use and effectiveness of such invasive and
dangerous technology that will diminish the civil liberties of Black and
Brown and poor people across Champaign County.
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