Automated License Plate Reader Allowed Police To Catch News Crew Shooter - So Is This Worth The Privacy Risk?

License plate reader technology picked up Vester Lee Flanagan’s car after he shot and killed two TV journalists in Virginia early on Wednesday.

A license plate reader in the vehicle of Virginia State Trooper Pamela Neff picked up Flanagan’s Chevrolet on Interstate 66 at approximately 11:20 a.m. ET.

During a press conference Neff explained that the car was quickly identified after she entered its details into her license plate reader. "As soon as it was entered, it came up with a positive hit that that vehicle just passed me less than three minutes earlier," she said. "I let my dispatch know that the vehicle has passed me and I attempted to catch up with the vehicle, which was travelling eastbound on 66."

cidflekken - 8/28/2015 1:24:24 PM

+3 Boost

How exactly if privacy involved here? License plates are displayed for full public view. This technology just makes it more efficient to pick it up. I don't even believe the technology releases the specific details of the license plate owner's information, i.e., name, address.

MDarringer - 8/28/2015 7:35:24 PM

+2 Boost

It's an invasion of privacy because it catches criminals and Liberals ALWAYS see criminals as innocent victims.

Anyone with a brain is glad the technology is deployed.

randy3023 - 8/28/2015 4:57:33 PM

+1 Boost

A license plate is public information, just as are the color, make, and model.

The police can put out an APB that goes something like, "Keep a look out for a white Ford Bronco with license plate XYZ".

Officers can then sit in their cars and wait for a white Ford Bronco to drive by, or they can set up little cameras to help speed things up.

What is the difference, from a privacy standpoint?

MDarringer - 8/29/2015 10:41:20 AM

+1 Boost

Someone needs his anti-paranoia meds.

cidflekken - 8/29/2015 1:23:03 PM

+1 Boost

LOL. Wow.