Rochester Beacon reported that the Monroe County Sheriff's Office shares data from its license plate readers with 392 state and local law enforcement agencies. The list of those agencies has not been made public, so residents cannot see who is on it.
The sheriff's office gave the count to Democratic county legislators in a presentation on Tuesday. The presentation placed those agencies in 20 states. Office policy allows sharing with agencies in New York and 22 other states.
Which agencies can search Monroe County's plate data?
- 392 agencies, on a paper list that has not been released
- Agencies in 20 states, according to the presentation
- Policy allows New York plus 22 other states, from Maine to Florida and west to Michigan and Mississippi
Chief Deputy Michael Fowler said in written answers that the agencies were "specifically selected by region due to known criminal trafficking enterprises." He did not name them or say who approved each arrangement.
Daniel Schwarz of the New York Civil Liberties Union called the 22-state limit "hardly a reasonable limitation."
Can the county see what outside agencies search?
Fowler wrote that the office can see when an outside agency searches, and that every search is logged and subject to audit. He did not say how many outside searches there have been or whether the office would release that log. He also did not address what an agency does with the results.
County Legislator Rachel Barnhart said the office cannot know how outside agencies use the data, including whether they give federal agencies access to their own systems. "Once data leaves Monroe County, we have no control," she said.
What changes for drivers?
The reporting does not say the county is ending the sharing or turning off its cameras. The sharing policy belongs to the sheriff's office, and the reporting describes no change to it beyond the September replacement.
Readers run by a neighboring county, a town or a business are not covered by this county's sharing policy, and the reporting says nothing about them changing. Two pending state bills, A.10808A and S.9890A, would restrict how readers can be used and require unused data to be deleted within 48 hours. Both remain in committee. Monroe County's policy keeps plate data for 12 months. For published transparency records by agency, see the agencies list. For background on the technology, see how plate readers work.
When could the rules change?
Both bills must be reintroduced if they do not pass by Dec. 31. The county's policy was replaced on Sept. 21, six weeks after Democratic legislators sent the sheriff a list of questions. Fowler wrote that the office's practice has not changed.
A records request was filed in August, and the county released 437 pages on Nov. 4. An appeal is pending. The sheriff's office has also listed a plate reader statistics dashboard as "coming soon."
The next date to watch is Dec. 31, when both bills either pass or have to start over.