City officials in Coeur d'Alene were questioned recently about their use of automated license plate readers. Coeur d'Alene Press reported that Police Chief Greg Yeager said the city has used the readers since 2007. For background on how these readers work, see how plate readers work.
How long has Coeur d'Alene used plate readers?
Yeager said the city has used them since 2007. The department has 20 Motorola cameras, which cost the city $17,000 a year to operate. Many are installed at eight fixed locations around the city. The police department also has three vehicles with a mobile unit and two trailers that use the technology.
What do the police use them for?
Yeager said the department uses the readers to mitigate traffic problems or to collect information when a stolen car, poaching, a homicide or a missing person is officially reported. The department does not use them for minor traffic infractions.
Yeager gave an example of a car reported stolen in Missoula. If that car passes one of Coeur d'Alene's cameras, the national database notifies the local department, which then has grounds for a traffic stop. "If the vehicle passes one of our cameras, it's a shoulder tap," he said.
Yeager also said the cameras do not track a car. "It takes a picture," he said. The Press reports that nearly 60,000 vehicles pass between Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene on Interstate 90 each day, according to the Idaho Transportation Department. A reader at a freeway exit could theoretically photograph every one of them.
Where are the Flock cameras?
The open-source project dflock.org counts 11 Flock cameras around Coeur d'Alene. The Press reports that those cameras are on private property and are not operated by the city.
Resident Tracy Mack told city officials during public comment that "these cameras can lead to false arrests." Mack also objected to cameras that take pictures of a car from the front and back.
What changes for drivers?
Coeur d'Alene's retention policy for plate reader data sets a one-year maximum. Yeager said that if a vehicle is never tied to an accident or crime, the data is deleted without anyone looking at it. The Press reports that plate reader data is not legally open to public review in Idaho.
The Press says Idaho cities Caldwell and Wilder face tort claims over their Flock use, which argue the cameras violate Fourth Amendment rights. In July, a person was charged with malicious injury to property after ramming a truck into two Flock cameras in Pocatello.
Yeager said the best way to take a stance on the readers is to speak at city council or county commission meetings. He said he thinks the council "is very responsive." Coeur d'Alene Press does not name a meeting date.
Check the camera map to see which readers are mapped near you.