Davis County leaders OK accord on use of license plate readers as debate flares on the topic

FARMINGTON — Davis County commissioners this week formally signed off on an accord with state officials outlining guidelines for using license plate recognition systems, underscoring the broader debate swirling around the controversial technology.

The commissioners on Tuesday approved a memorandum of understanding with the Utah Department of Public Safety on the use of automatic license plate recognition systems, or ALPRs, in a 2-1 vote. The agreement outlines how license plate information may be used — "for law enforcement purposes only" — and authorizes the sharing of information among other participating agencies.

Davis County Sheriff Kelly Sparks touted the technology and Commissioners Bob Stevenson and Lorene Kamalu voted for the measure, which is required of all Utah law enforcement agencies that intend to cooperate with other Utah agencies on sharing of license plate data.

"These license plate readers can be a great tool. We have solved homicide cases. We have recovered kidnapped children," Sparks said. "What we need to be able to do is make sure that we're using that valuable information in a very restrictive and important way that protects and safeguards all the rights of our citizens."

Commissioner John Crofts voted against the measure, which also drew opposition from a handful of Davis County residents who addressed the commissioners at Tuesday's meeting.

"I have some concerns, and I'm not ready to vote in the affirmative for this until I understand it better," Crofts said, referencing the common worry that the technology represents a potential violation of the civil liberties of the public.

The technology is the focus of intense and growing debate across Utah and around the nation as law enforcement agencies increasingly tap into it to track suspects. ALPRs are camera systems placed along roadways that can read the license plates of passing autos, helping authorities find suspects by tracking the movement of their cars if they happen to travel by one of the devices.

Critics worry the information could be misused and that collecting the data invades privacy.

Opposition to license plate readers "unites Utahns on all sides of the political spectrum, ranging from the conservatives all the way to the progressives, socialists, libertarians," Bountiful resident Ronald Mortensen told the county officials during the public comment portion of Tuesday's Davis County Commission meeting.

Debate flared about the topic Thursday after a group, Utah Civic Compact, released public information it sought about use of the technology by the Weber County Sheriff's Office. The 10 cameras owned by the county were searched more than 5 million times, mostly by out-of-state law enforcement agencies, reflecting use of just a fraction of the devices all across Utah.

It's been a focus of debate by Salt Lake City officials, and Ogden Police Chief Jake Sube last January offered a detailed presentation on the use of the technology to city leaders. Forty-one cameras are deployed in Ogden.

Elsewhere in northern Utah, Weber County commissioners approved the county's memorandum of understanding on use of ALPR cameras with the Utah Department of Public Safety on June 2. The item was on the commissioners' consent agenda and didn't receive any discussion.

4 ALPR cameras in Davis County

According to Davis County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Arnold Butcher, who also addressed Davis County commissioners on Tuesday, Davis County is required, by law, to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Utah Department of Public Safety.

"This is required now for any (law enforcement agencies) that are using these types of camera systems throughout the state in order to share any of that information," he said. He's not sure what other agencies have signed on to the memorandum of understanding with state officials.

The Davis County Sheriff's Office has four ALPR cameras, with none of them yet deployed and one undergoing testing.

In a statement Friday, the Department of Public Safety said the memorandums of understanding approved around the state are geared specifically to Utah law enforcement agencies.

"Within the MOU, an authorized Utah user may assist a non-party agency only when doing so complies with the Utah agency's internal policies and is authorized by Utah law," reads the statement.

The agreements require that participating agencies audit use of information their camera systems produce. "These logs are required to capture the number of times a search is conducted, the crime type and the incident number associated with each query to verify that searches are conducted solely for legitimate law enforcement purposes," the department said.

According to the online Flock Transparency Portal, operated by Flock, the company that makes the ALPR system used in Ogden, the 41 cameras in the city had resulted in 414,597 unique license plate reads in the 30 days leading up to Friday. They had also resulted in 2,225 "hotlist hits" in the period, that is, identifications of cars flagged by law enforcement authorities.

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