Penn State Police are piloting the use of license plate readers, a law enforcement tool that is becoming more common, but that also has opponents.
The automated license plate readers Penn State is using are from the company Flock Safety. The cameras are stationary, and according to a university spokesman, they’re at “select” locations around the perimeter of campus.
The spokesman said in an email that the readers support law enforcement including with recovering stolen vehicles and assisting with missing-persons cases and investigative leads.
Sara Thorndike, Penn State’s chief financial officer, confirmed the use of the license plate readers in response to a question during a Faculty Senate meeting Tuesday.
“Penn State is using license plate reader technology as part of a systemwide safety pilot," she said. "The data collected is vehicle-based, and access to the data is tightly restricted, audited and governed by strict policies with clear safeguards in place to protect privacy and safeguard the data.”
According to the Penn State spokesman, the pilot is “limited in scope and duration, with no contract or cost during the testing period.”
"Camera locations and counts are not published for security reasons," the spokesman said in an email. "Access is restricted to trained, authorized (University Police and Public Safety) personnel; system use is logged and audited, and data are retained for up to 30 days unless preserved as evidence. There is no public access to (automated license plate reader) data, and any sharing follows policy and applicable law."
According to a report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the systems have been in use for more than two decades. But, advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have made the systems more affordable and effective.
And more common. Flock’s website says more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies use its license readers. But the cameras have also sparked opposition and concerns about privacy and civil liberties, including from contributors to the website DeFlock, which maps where the technology is being used.
