What Happens When Police License Plate Readers Make Mistakes? (theverge.com)

An anonymous reader writes: The Verge reports that San Francisco Bay Area police "pulled over a California privacy advocate and held him at gunpoint after a database error caused a license plate reader to flag a car as stolen, a lawsuit alleges." Brian Hofer, the chairman of Oakland's Privacy Advisory Commission, was handcuffed and surrounded by multiple police cars, and says a police deputy injured his brother by throwing him to the ground. They were finally released -- 40 minutes later. But ironically, Hofer has been a staunch critic of license plate readers, "which he points out have led to wrongful detentions, invasions of privacy and potentially costly lawsuits." (California bus driver Denise Green was detained at gunpoint when her own car was incorrectly identified as stolen -- leading to a lawsuit which she eventually settled for nearly $500,000.) And at least one thief simply swapped license plates with an innocent driver.

The executive director of Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, a state government program, acknowledged that the accuracy rate of the license plate readers is about 90 percent, yet "added that in some cases, the technology has actually exonerated people, or given potential suspects alibis. But there is no way for the public to know just how effective the license plate reader technology is in capturing criminals" -- apparently because police departments aren't capturing that data. Only one of the region's police departments, in Piedmont, California, reported its "efficacy metrics" to the agency -- with 7,500 "hits" which over 11 months led to 28 arrests (and the recovery of 39 cars) after reading 21.3 million license plates. The license plate readers cost $20,000 per patrol car.

In Hofer's case, he was driving a rental car which had previously been reported as stolen but then later recovered -- though for some reason the police or rental car agency failed to update their database. But he criticizes the fact that "somebody could pull a gun on your because of an alert that a computer system gave them."
"They're just pulling guns and going cowboy on us," Hofer says. "It's a pretty terrifying position to be in....

"This is happening more frequently than it should be. They're not ensuring the accuracy of their data and people's lives are literally at risk."

Comments

Why can't they assess the situation better?

[ZorinLynx]

Rather than going in guns blazing and injuring people with excessive force, why not just pull the car over and talk to the people?

If they are going to be violent or belligerent it would be quite obvious.

The one time police pulled me over because I was driving the same kind of car as someone they were looking for, they just walked up, told me to keep my hands visible (this is sensible) and talked to me, calmly asked for my ID, ran it and said "you're free to go" once they realized I wasn't the person. No guns out, no "GET OUT OF THE CAR!!", no being wrestled to the ground.

Police have gotten way too gung-ho lately, it's time to dial that back a few dozen pegs.

Re:Why can't they assess the situation better?

[JaredOfEuropa]

Is that really the norm these days? I had one run-in with a US cop but that was ages ago: he pulled me over for running a 4 way stop (red blinking traffic light, I didn't even know what the hell that meant, and assumed it was the same as blinking yellow). It was the middle of the night on a quiet street, but the cop didn't seem overly concerned for his safety. No guns, no shouting, just a polite chat (and he let me off with a warning).

Pretty much what I'd expect of a normal cop. But then again I suppose the same could happen over here. Our cops generally do not pull out their guns unless there is an immediate and clear threat, but if the call comes down about armed suspects fleeing the scene and an ANPR matches the plate, you better believe that they will take similar precautions i.e. take cover and order the driver out of the car at gunpoint.

Re:Why can't they assess the situation better?

[drinkypoo]

Is that really the norm these days? I had one run-in with a US cop but that was ages ago

My experience is that the worse they think they can treat you, the worse they treat you. As a kid I got busted for vandalism twice. Actually did it once, in Santa Cruz. White kid in a white neighborhood, no ID because of my age, got treated very well. Didn't do it the second time, still white in a white neighborhood but also a poor one, Lakeport. Got cuffed and put in the front seat of a shitty little Impala (the FWD kind) with my face against the dash where I could have been killed (neck snapped) by the airbag in a collision. That cop was a SWAT team member who eventually got kicked off the force for failing to turn in drug evidence, instead giving it to underage girls and fucking them. I got the full story on him years later when I brought it up with a friend of mine, who actually knows two of the girls in question personally, but everyone knew he was crooked.

My first traffic stop, which was literally for nothing, involved two cops pointing guns in my face, with fingers on triggers. I was in a brown chevy citation so I guess they figured I couldn't afford a lawyer — which was a correct assumption. But over the years, they've harassed me less. Got pulled over at about 30 years old in a way rattier-looking 240SX with patchy paint and no bumper cover but with the bumper installed, cop tried to tell me I had no bumper. I explained to him that I did have a bumper but no cover, and he gave back my license and I drove away. More recently, a CHP stopped on the side of the road and helped me do a tire change, it was hot AF out so I was exhausted, and my shitty little Audi jack had folded up and tried to kill me. Luckily, I wasn't dumb enough to be under the car at the time. We used his jack, and he even did part of the work.

if the call comes down about armed suspects fleeing the scene and an ANPR matches the plate, you better believe that they will take similar precautions i.e. take cover and order the driver out of the car at gunpoint.

If they're behind the vehicle, and the driver doesn't appear to be fleeing, maybe they should use their twin spherical plate readers (you know, their eyes) to double-check the information before endangering citizens' lives by pointing loaded guns at them. As a gun owner, and son of a US Marine, I learned before I was even out of grade school that you don't point a gun at anything you don't intend to kill, and you don't put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to shoot. And in fact, questions reflecting those facts are present on the test that Californians have to pass in order to secure permission to purchase a firearm. But somehow, the cops get it wrong again and again, with the result that they shoot innocent people again and again. Why are the cops held to a lower standard than the rest of us, when they have such a higher level of power and authority? That's ass-backwards.

Re:Why can't they assess the situation better?

[bferrell]

Obviously you haven't seen (or don't care about) recent the body cam video of a traffic stop in Vallejo California where the driver turned to "get his license" and got off two rounds before the another officer shot him.

I love the one where the guy was on his back, hands up, was told to stay put and he rolled toward the gun... And people wonder why the cop shot him. All on body cam footage.

Yes, the cops are more than a little "high strung"... Try getting shot at yourself once or twice and show me how calm you stay in the long term.

I don't care one little tiny bit for cops, but cowboys, "gangsta's" and gunslingers is what they (and the rest of us) get to contend with. I sit in my home, night after night and listen to the small arms fire in the distance. And THAT'S an improvement... It used to be the purr of automatic weapons and shotgun blasts!

Re:Wrong problem

[bferrell]

Geewhiz! Look at the cop in Vallejo. It was exactly the textbook you quoted.

The driver pulled to the side as instructed, turned "get his license" and when he turned back, opened fire. The cops partner on the other side then shot the driver.

All calm and peaceful right up to the moment the driver shot the cop.

How's your assessment now?

Re:Are you thick or what.

[sjames]

That's still no excuse to injure an occupant of the vehicle by pulling them out of the car and slamming them to the ground. Surely by that point it would be apparent if an occupant of the vehicle intended to shoot their way out of the situation. That and if you have them physically under control enough to slam them down, they already can't go for a gun, the actual slamming isn't necessary.

OTOH, pulling a gun on someone who knows they've done nothing to call for that is a GREAT way to make them dangerous by putting them in fear for their life.

Add to that the fact that the scanner is only 80% accurate in the first place and even if it reads correctly, the database may be wrong (as it was in this case) and you have a significant chance that the people you're interacting with are completely innocent.