As described, and with the civil liberties protections mentioned, I have no problem with this:
What do you think?
I think it’s probably legal. Also think I’d vote with my wallet and avoid driving through and/or spending money in that town.
I’m certain it’s legal, and I don’t see any problem with it. When you drive in public, you expose your license plate to anyone who wishes to see it.
I don’t like it, I think it sucks but I have given up. All hopes of big brother level observation of everyone’s movement has been surrendered. Most willingly since 9/11.
It is going to happen, it keeps happening increment by increment. Many cities and every airport already have so many security cameras going that this is just a minor and next logical step.
I know I have nothing to hide so I shouldn’t be worried about it but it is depressing how willingly we have given up our privacy in this “land of the free”.
True, but exposing the license plate and having the government record data that can be used to track the movement of citizens without any particular suspicion of wrongdoing are two different things. Anybody that was watching this afternoon would know that I went to pick up some take-out during halftime of the Saints game. The government has no business collecting such information, unless they’re already investigating me for some crime.
But since (1) your license plate is visible to everyone now anyway, (2) only the plate is photographed, (3) the records are kept for a limited time, and (4) the photos will be reviewed only if there’s a crime committed that day in a low-crime community, I can accept this program. This all presumes that you believe the city’s assurances, of course, and I can understand that some - many? - will not.
As an unintended consequence, I might predict that those intending to commit crimes in Tiburon will first steal a car and drive it there.
Well, now I know where to go to establish my alibi.
You don’t have to go. just your plates.
Well this certainly beats using that money to fix pot holes and burnt out street lights.
(That should read as annoyed disgust.)
California requires front and back license plates, but only about half the cars have front plates. I suppose a ticket is in order for every dumb MFer who drives through Tiburon without a front plate.
Damn, the former police chief of Tiburon is a family friend and I just saw him this past Monday at a funeral. I wish I had remembered about this for discussion.
Still, I have to wonder–what crimes in Tiburon?
Jefferson Parish (you’d call that a County), Louisiana has been doing that for years now. There are pole mounted cameras at every entrance to the Parish that take pictures of every car and license plate and run it through a computer.
This is going to confuse all the criminals who steal cars or switch license plates to commit crimes.
I don’t have a philosophical objection to it, but I’m also not sure what it’s supposed to accomplish. Let’s say a crime is committed. You’ve got a list of all of the vehicles that were in the town at the time… Now what are you going to do with that list? Sure, you could identify nonresidents who were in town, but what does that get you? There’s nothing that says that the criminal couldn’t have been a resident. There’s 8000 people living there. What good is a suspect list that’s 8000 people long?
This reminds me. Does anyone know where to get some white paint that reflects dark on infrared?
Or, better, clear paint?
I suspect, if such a thing exists, it might be of use on license plates.
We’ve had this in London for years - part of the anti-IRA campaign.
Although it’s primarily aimed at counter-terrorism, the cameras do get used for other crime investigation work, so there’s always a risk that the scope of usage will creep.
But I guess it’s also different for a huge city like London (8m people) to a town like Tiburon (8k people).
Depends on what you mean by “no business.”
Same here. I thought California was broke?
“People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither .”
Benjamin Franklin
Some venues doen’t require front plates at all. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia don’t. Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon don’t.
How much tourism does this town get?
What freedom is being given up here?