Kenosha Police drop plan to purchase automated license plate scanners

This photo atop a squad car is an example of a mobile license plate reader. The Kenosha Police Department had been considering a contract with Vigilant Solutions, a Livermore, Calif.-based corporation that develops and designs advanced software systems for photographing vehicles, as well as capturing license plate data with date, time and GPS coordinates. On Wednesday, Police Chief Dan Miskinis said the department would not proceed with the contract.

MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS

The Kenosha Police Department is withdrawing plans to purchase an automated license plate reading system for the city.

The department had planned to use a $49,000 state grant to purchase two license plate readers — one fixed high-speed camera and one mobile camera — used in conjunction with software that scans the plates as a tool to help the department track and recover stolen vehicles.

Read more: https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/kenosha-police-drop-plan-to-purchase-automated-license-plate-scanners/article_b98c143c-e935-59fc-a703-8a0d1fff6bb9.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

Better watch your back! What they really mean is that Open Records threaten their intended role as Secret Police! The truth is NOT their friend - just like the KPD CHief has no problem with one of his Officers shooting an African American male 7 times in the back or executing Michael Bell. Lawsuit for defamation seems appropriate and will Talking Ratcine take on the challenge of challenging Kenosha Alderman Kennedy?

Kennedy, who sits on the Finance Committee and had initiated the committee's deferring action on the license plate readers, which eventually led to the council's deferral, agreed with Miskinis' assessment. He said he understood the positions of both the police department need to have access to technology for crimefighting and the public's concerns for how it might be misused.

Kennedy said police laid out the case for efficiency in solving stolen vehicle crimes and areas where the technology could be used effectively and saw justification for voting in favor of the license plate readers.

"But, I also could vote `no' because of the weaponization of the Wisconsin Open Records laws and Freedom of Information Act that certain actors in our community have engaged in," he said.