Aug 18, 2008 6:52 pm US/Eastern
Scanning License Plates May Detect Terrorists
MARYLAND (WJZ) ―
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A high-tech device that can scan hundreds of license plates every hour will soon hit parts of Maryland.
CBS
Your safety versus your privacy. A high-tech device that can scan hundreds of license plates every hour will soon hit parts of Maryland.
Its aim is catching terrorists, but as
Mike Hellgren reports, some people fear the technology is big brother gone too far.
The license plate scanner automatically reads the plate number. If that number matches someone on a terrorist watch list or someone wanted for a serious crime, there would be an immediate hit.
Eyewitness News has learned there would be 200 scanners paid for by a $4.5 million federal Homeland Security Grant.
At least 40 of them would be installed at fixed locations like airports and major highways. The rest will be in squad cars, mostly in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, the district itself and Northern Virginia.
The plan is drawing mixed reviews from drivers in Maryland.
"I think it's a total waste of money," said one driver.
"Gotta keep the United States safe, safe as possible," said another person.
"I could see where people would have difficulty with it, as far as an invasion of privacy. I could see it really going both ways," said a Maryland driver.
The devices have already been installed on some patrol cars in the Maryland State Police College Park barracks.
They say they've recovered eight stolen vehicles and stopped two chronic toll violators.
The technology has been used in other parts of the world, including after a foiled bombing in London last year, where police found a Mercedes filled with nails and propane cylinders. The high-tech scanners could soon be checking all traffic entering Manhattan.
"This is a program where every single person driving in, no matter what they have done, are going to end up in a police file," said Chris Dunn, New York Civil Liberties Union.
"Obviously, everyone's world changed after Sept. 11. If you go into a bank you get your picture taken, if you go into a department store your picture is taken," said Ray Kelly, New York Police Commissioner.
In Maryland, authorities say the scanners would only store information on those drivers whose plates "hit" as a threat in the system.
The money spent on these scanners is less than ten percent of the huge federal grant. The rest of the money will be spent on improving bomb squads and providing hospitals with new equipment in case of disaster.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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