Tag readers, also known as license place recognition systems, are used to deter criminal activity, assist police investigations and protect the public — but will they be put to use on Anna Maria Island?
A debate over vehicle surveillance is rumbling through city halls and island meetings sparked by an April 4 memo from Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer to Mayor Bob Johnson.
At last check, Tokajer counted Johnson, Holmes Beach commissioners and law enforcement in Manatee County and Bradenton Beach as supporters.
Holmes Beach Commission Chair Judy Titsworth said it’s a budget item she’d support.
Bradenton Beach Commissioner Jake Spooner isn’t sure and wants to learn more. Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie, a one-time supporter, now has privacy concerns.
Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy is an opponent.
Murphy doesn’t dispute tag readers are a wonderful law enforcement tool.
But as far as protecting the public, the mayor is sounding an Orwellian alarm.
“A tracking device on every person’s car would be equally a wonderful law enforcement tool, but we all know that impinges on our freedom,” Murphy told The Islander April 17.
The mayor, a self-proclaimed “database guy” and former executive director for information technology at Verizon, called the systems “a time bomb waiting to go off” — and warns databases can be breached, abused and misused.
“If only it tracked the bad guys, I’d be all for it,” Murphy added.
Murphy opposes it, claiming personal data will be stored “for years and years,” and “available for some hacker or some marketer or whomever,” possibly someone “who might have an ax to grind against you.”
By state law, according to Tokajer, three years is the maximum time the data can be stored and, he emphasized, the Vigilant system he’s proposing collects and retains only vehicle tag numbers and directional data.
Communities or agencies can make policy decisions to store the data for less time, he said.
The Holmes Beach police chief said he’d “probably want to store it for a year,” foreseeing a possible need to review data to solve a crime if, for instance, a seasonal resident didn’t immediately report a burglary.
Tokajer disputes the “tracking” suggested by Murphy, saying while the Vigilant system connects with state and nationwide criminal, vehicle and personal records, it does not house the information from database searches.
Past abuses, professional ethics
Murphy pointed to past abuses of the law enforcement database, “Driver and Vehicle Information Database,” known as DAVID, which includes the personal data of motorists statewide.
The Tampa Bay Times reviewed data from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles system from January 2014 to May 2016 and reported 432 possible cases of DAVID misuse, including eight inquiries where officers and government employees used the system for “clearly personal” reasons, such as to track former lovers, gain information in child custody cases or check on friends and celebrities, according to an Aug. 27, 2016, article by Howard Altman.
Longboat Key Police Chief Pete Cumming said strict policies and professional ethics protect against database misuse.
High standards govern the use of the law enforcement database, he added.
With DAVID abuse, Cumming said, not only are there serious consequences for an officer, an entire agency can be decertified from use of the system.
“Our community has been overwhelmingly supportive of the license plate technology,” Cumming said of the tag readers stationed at the south and north ends of Longboat Key since 2013.
In counterpoint, Murphy said, look at the database compromises of Facebook, the Veterans Affairs, U.S Postal Service and others — and how most people don’t know when data are compromised.
He believes data could be sold, misused or abused.
“And I find that to be a dangerous proposition. For what benefit? For the benefit of stopping people with expired tags. It’s too risky.”
Privacy, effectiveness
Bottom line to Murphy is the tag readers invade an individual’s right to privacy.
“I don’t think it’s the city of Holmes Beach’s business how many times I go to Publix when my grandchildren are in town.
“And I go there a lot because they eat a lot,” he joked.
Tokajer disputes the system will pick up Murphy’s trips because, under his proposal, the cameras will not cover the north end of the island to the Publix Super Market in Holmes Beach.
Besides, he said, “My guys aren’t going to be tracking the comings and goings of people on the island. They have enough to do. They won’t be following the ordinary citizen.”
Murphy views his “main point” is it captures everyone’s data and “people need to know that before we use everybody’s tax dollars.”
He’s heard the system has a “1 percent kill rate” — one of 100 cars “might be the bad guy.”
The 99 others will be alerts for minor offenses such as not paying a traffic fine or missed child support payments.
In an April 5 email to his commissioners, Murphy pointed out the “technology may suffer the same fate as red-light cameras, in that it can be viewed as simply a way to increase revenue.”
More police stops will mean more island traffic backups, Murphy added.
Tokajer has facts to support his argument.
A 24-day trial run on Manatee Avenue in 2016 netted a hit for a stolen car — within the first five minutes — plus, hits for 92 state warrants, 173 warrants from a nationwide database, 2,010 driver license violations and 1,636 expired tags and uninsured drivers.
Another effective use of the system? Stolen car identification, according to Tokajer.
“From 38 years of law enforcement experience I can tell you the people in a stolen car are not coming to the island on vacation. They are coming to the island with criminal activity intention,” Tokajer wrote in the April 4 memo.
Funding
Undeterred by a recent Coalition of Barrier Island Elected Officials meeting where Chappie and others walked back their support for the cameras, Tokajer said April 19 it is a matter of educating people.
Holmes Beach commissioners were initially skeptical, he said. However, on hearing facts and learning more, they supported it.
He initially hoped to fund the system through Manatee County’s $1.19 million beach concession fund, but the intergovernmental project lacked support at the April 18 Coalition of Barrier Island Officials meeting.
Tokajer said he’ll look for other sources, including donations if necessary, “to protect our island and our citizens.”
Purchasing the cameras, according to Johnson, will be part of this year’s Holmes Beach budget discussions.
Murphy called Tokajer’s eight camera proposal “overkill” but he has yet to get direction from the Anna Maria commissioners. The camera systems haven’t been a topic in any commission meeting.
Bradenton Beach approved its concession fund request — omitting the LPR. Mayor John Chappie said the commission would need more information to change direction.
Tokajer is answering both mayors by offering to speak to any other island official — individually or in a group.
Murphy might not be convinced easily.
“The perfect law enforcement tool is a tracking device implanted in my head. If I were in law enforcement, I’d be pushing for money to do that,” Murphy said.
Holmes Beach police chief details LPR system
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer wrote a four-page memo April 4 to Mayor Bob Johnson that was shared islandwide with officials proposing eight license plate recognition cameras to assist investigations and proactive policing with a $140,000-$160,000 one-time price tag.
Bids include installation, parts and a five-year maintenance plan. The cost to connect the system to a wireless network is $3,900 per year.
In it, the chief recommends the Vigilant Solutions system, with cameras enabled to read vehicle tags and vehicle travel direction, as well as a link to law enforcement databases. He proposes eight cameras at the following locations:
- Two cameras on the Cortez Bridge to catch eastbound and westbound traffic.
- Two cameras aimed at vehicles going on and off the Anna Maria Island Bridge on Manatee Avenue.
- A camera to capture vehicle tags southbound on East Bay Drive in Holmes Beach.
- Two cameras in the area of 2700 Gulf Drive in Holmes Beach.
- A camera for southbound traffic on Gulf Drive coming off Cortez Road.