LITTLE ROCK, AR — A program to install cameras capable of reading license plates is expanding across central Arkansas.
Law enforcement says it’s helping them solve crimes.
But some are concerned the cameras are a violation of the privacy of innocent citizens.
The cameras read, process and store hundreds of thousands of data entries that track vehicles as they move around the region.
There are about a dozen of them now around across Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville and parts of Saline County.
Just 30 seconds after a driver passes through the view of a camera, law enforcement has access to the information which is then stored for 150 days.
The information is kept on a Little Rock Police department database, the captain who runs the program says it’s helping his agency solve everything from hit and runs to violent crimes.
But some worry the system violates civil liberties.
“It is probably one of the most effective investigative tools that you can have,” said Captain Ty Tyrrell with the Little Rock Police Department.
“It’s knowing things about you that the government has no right to know,” replied Rita Sklar, Executive Director of the Arkansas ACLU.
The ACLU says its not completely against the program but says changes are needed to protect people who haven’t done anything wrong.
Right now the Little Rock Police Department has about 17,000 active warrants. The captain says it’s tools like the cameras that will help trim the number.
Law enforcement says it’s helping them solve crimes.
But some are concerned the cameras are a violation of the privacy of innocent citizens.
The cameras read, process and store hundreds of thousands of data entries that track vehicles as they move around the region.
There are about a dozen of them now around across Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jacksonville and parts of Saline County.
Just 30 seconds after a driver passes through the view of a camera, law enforcement has access to the information which is then stored for 150 days.
The information is kept on a Little Rock Police department database, the captain who runs the program says it’s helping his agency solve everything from hit and runs to violent crimes.
But some worry the system violates civil liberties.
“It is probably one of the most effective investigative tools that you can have,” said Captain Ty Tyrrell with the Little Rock Police Department.
“It’s knowing things about you that the government has no right to know,” replied Rita Sklar, Executive Director of the Arkansas ACLU.
The ACLU says its not completely against the program but says changes are needed to protect people who haven’t done anything wrong.
Right now the Little Rock Police Department has about 17,000 active warrants. The captain says it’s tools like the cameras that will help trim the number.