Tremonton Garland PD opts not to use license plate readers after testing technology

TREMONTON — The Tremonton Garland Police Department has opted not to use license plate recognition technology after testing it on a trial basis amid growing concerns among many that it poses a potential threat to privacy.

The Box Elder County police department had been testing one of the devices, produced by Motorola, but didn't purchase it.

"After reviewing the results of the pilot program, we did not find sufficient benefit to justify the potential cost or the privacy concerns associated with continued use of the technology," Tremonton Garland Police Chief Dustin Cordova said in a statement Tuesday. "As a result, the camera has been removed and TPD will not be purchasing this technology."

Similarly, officials in Washington Terrace in Weber County have paused any plans to use the technology after a three-month trial. Davis County Commissioners earlier this month approved a memorandum of understanding with state officials to use the technology.

Automatic license plate recognition systems, or ALPRs, have been focus of growing scrutiny across Utah and beyond. Proponents tout the technology, which identifies and records the license plate numbers of passing autos, as a means of tracking suspects, searching for kidnap victims and fighting crime. Foes, though, maintain that the devices — placed along roadways — represent a potential violation of the civil liberties of the public.

Cordova said police got plenty of feedback on the technology from the public, some of it apparently critical.

"Your voice matters, and I want you to know that we hear you," he said. "We also understand and share the importance you place on privacy. Protecting this community means protecting both your safety and your rights, and those two things are not in conflict. We are on the same team."

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