Cameras to read license plates on I-90

[xoxoxoBruce]

Police will soon have vehicle thieves' and wanted persons' license plate numbers on Interstate 90. Cutting-edge automated cameras that capture plates and alert dispatchers of criminals associated with the number will be installed along I-90, Post Falls Police Lt. Scot Haug said.

"Anytime technology can help secure a major interstate, in this case I-90 that runs between Seattle and Chicago, that's a real benefit to law enforcement," Haug said. "If there's an Amber Alert (for a missing person) out of, say, Shoshone or Spokane County, this will alert us immediately if a subject passes a location." The cameras can read license plates of vehicles traveling more than 100 mph and at night.

Under a joint project by Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene and the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department, a $125,000 Department of Homeland Security grant has funded eight cameras to be placed at two locations along I-90. Each camera will focus on a lane of traffic and alert dispatchers about the direction of travel, time, a vehicle description and the crime.

The equipment will be purchased by the end of November and likely will be in operation this winter or spring, Haug said. Haug said the specific locations haven't been determined, but one will likely be in Post Falls and the other in Coeur d'Alene."They'll likely be placed on the lower portion of bridges," Haug said.

Haug said the focus early on will be stolen vehicles, terrorist and Amber alerts.
"This is a tool to find a person or stolen vehicle," he said. "It's a silent partner." Eventually, it could be used for finding wanted people.

Haug believes the cameras will be a big benefit for police and the public, but they won't stretch law enforcement resources. "I don't anticipate that this will result in an overwhelming amount of work -- maybe a couple stolen vehicles a week," he said.The cameras capture mostly the license plate number, not the entire vehicle or who is driving, Haug said."They zero in on the front and back of the vehicle where the license plates are at," he said. "It looks for those numbers and gives an alert if there's a hit."

Haug said he believes not many agencies have such technology. "Los Angeles uses this technology in a more mobile environment on patrol cars, and it's been very successful for them so far," he said. "It allows officers to drive through the parking lot of a mall and scan several hundred plates in a matter of a couple minutes."

Hmmm, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.....White power capitol of North America.

What happens to the plate numbers scanned that don't match the "wanted list", stored or discarded?

No problem if you haven't done anything wrong, right? Unless they make a mistake, but you'd only be locked up in Cuba for a short time until they straighten it out. Look how smoothly the airports run.

Or they suddenly change the law to make your normal routine illegal. Check your plate against the list of permits for interstate travel? Do you have a permit to visit Aunt Edith?

Standard procedure to put the enforcement in place before making, or changing, the rules. But hell, who's going to Idaho anyway...I mean they certainly wouldn't do that around here, would they.

I'm just paranoid...nevermind....if you can't trust the government, who can you trust? Not to worry...move along, nothing to see here.

[glatt]

Cameras are everywhere. Can't put that genie back in the bottle.

Gotta put one of those computer monitor privacy screens over the plate, so cops at ground level can see it fine, but cameras on poles can't.

[xoxoxoBruce]

That raises another question. What if they detect your car but can't read the plate? Automatic tank trap, hellfire missiles, rising bollards?

[9th Engineer]

Come on, this is really starting to sink into heavy grade paranoia guys. The comments about interstate permits and the 1984 stuff is so outrageous it's funny. We are not a communist nation nor will we be (at least under this or next few presidents). I hate to ruin anyones day, but your licence plate is already in a database as being registered under your name (the owner of the car), so all this secret data mining paranoia is just stupid. Look at what this actually is without projecting your own private fears onto it.

[Flint]

You're a nice guy, 9th. When the revolution comes, I won't enjoy splitting your skull open.

I-90 in that part of the world is NOT exactly a bumper to bumper Interstate. I used to live in a town near this new project, and there are about a 1,000 back roads that can get you safely past the camera's. All they've done is to warn potential criminals to go over Lolo Pass, instead.

[Pie]

Unwarranted search, anyone?

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

Come on, this is really starting to sink into heavy grade paranoia guys. The comments about interstate permits and the 1984 stuff is so outrageous it's funny.

What branch of the CIA do you work for, again?

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

Come on, this is really starting to sink into heavy grade paranoia guys. The comments about interstate permits and the 1984 stuff is so outrageous it's funny. We are not a communist nation nor will we be (at least under this or next few presidents). ...

It's not about communism - an economic system. It's about authoritarianism. And *this* president has done everything he can to increase the power of the executive branch, making the position of POTUS more dictatorial. That's what you should worry about. But who needs habeus corpus, anyway?

I'm sure they just want to cross-reference the car's plate number with the chip in your arm that's transmitting your personal data.

[Happy Monkey]

Has anyone read "The Transparent Society" by David Brin?

[tw]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

Come on, this is really starting to sink into heavy grade paranoia guys.

HE even has a secret court so that bench warrants can be issued for wire tapping. Even that was too restrictive for president Cheney who then wiretaps without judicial review. Why would he do that? Obvious. He wants a dictatorship.

I never thought Americans would stand for such threats. And yet so many even advocated torture, international kidnappings (extraordinary rendition), letting bin Laden go free, secret prisons, Guantanamo, Abu Ghriad, lie to 'Pearl Harbor' a sovereign nation, suspended legal action against so many companies (Enron, et al during Harvey Pitts tenure), the raping of CA during a mythical energy crisis, $450,000 campaign contributions to keep a 'potential 3 Mile Island' reactor going, the K Street project, called the Columbia an accident, attempted to destroy Hubble, 'Man to Mars' nonsense and other destructions of science, and suspension of Writ of Habeas Corpus. Reasons why this president is so scary is made obvious in The Cellar. Notice how many actually approve of 'these some of the most anti-American' actions. What makes president Cheney and the rest of the George Jr administration so scary are how so many even in the Cellar approved of these actions.

No, the cameras should not be a threat to anyone. However how can you blame others for being so paranoid? George Jr has been the most dangerous president since WWII - with only Nixon as the possible exception. I cannot think of any other presidents this dangerous to Americans which is why I cannot blame anyone for worrying.

Who else besides Tojo and president Cheney advocated 'Pearl Harbor'? Who else can shoot his friend, then run away before law enforcement can question him? Who else would issue massive no-bid contracts to his own company (Halliburton), have no guilt, and not investigated? So many have massive reasons to be paranoid.

[Pie]

Originally Posted by tw

Who else besides Tojo and president Cheney advocated 'Pearl Harbor'? Who else can shoot his friend, then run away before law enforcement can question him? Who else would issue massive no-bid contracts to his own company (Halliburton), have no guilt, and not investigated?

I know, I know! The candyman can!

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Flint

You're a nice guy, 9th. When the revolution comes, I won't enjoy splitting your skull open.

lol

c'mon, not even just a little?

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

Come on, this is really starting to sink into heavy grade paranoia guys. The comments about interstate permits and the 1984 stuff is so outrageous it's funny. We are not a communist nation nor will we be (at least under this or next few presidents). I hate to ruin anyones day, but your licence plate is already in a database as being registered under your name (the owner of the car), so all this secret data mining paranoia is just stupid. Look at what this actually is without projecting your own private fears onto it.

So young, so naive. (whimsical sigh...)