St. Albans pauses automated licence plate camera purchases

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 20 Oct, 23:02 · Archive

St. Albans City Council has voted to pause purchases of automated licence plate readers until West Virginia passes privacy protections.

St. Albans City Council voted Monday to adopt a resolution pausing the city's ability to purchase Flock cameras or other automated licence plate readers. The vote was unanimous.

The resolution urges West Virginia state lawmakers to enact comprehensive legislation establishing privacy protections and constitutional safeguards. The council declared the city would not "purchase, lease, contract for, or otherwise expend municipal funds to acquire or operate" automated licence plate recognition systems without such legislation in place.

Vice Mayor Jared Page said the move protects citizens' privacy rights. "I think that this is an important step for keeping our citizens' personal property rights protected," Page said. He added the city will not purchase any such products until guardrails are established at state level. The decision was communicated to the city's police department, and everyone cooperated.

The council acknowledged that the technology can help law enforcement but expressed concern that a lack of statutory safeguards creates potential for misuse, data security issues, government surveillance, or privacy violations. The council affirmed that "public safety and individual liberty are not mutually exclusive" and that law enforcement agencies should have appropriate investigative tools operating within clearly defined legal boundaries.

How it is being reported

• St. Albans City Council passes resolution preventing Flock camera purchaseST. ALBANS, W.Va. (WOWK) - The St. Albans City Council passed a resolution Monday that would prevent the city from purchasing any type of automated license plate reader cameras, such as Flock Safety cameras, unless the West Virginia State Legislature enacts a law to put safeguards in place. According to St. Albans City Clerk Brent [...]Wowktv · 20 Oct, 22:52
• St. Albans City Council votes to pause purchase of Flock cameras, other ALPRsSt. Albans City Council voted Monday to adopt a resolution, pausing the city’s ability purchase of any Flock cameras or automated license plate readers.WSAZ · 20 Oct, 04:24

In this story: St. Albans City Council · Flock Safety · Jared Page · West Virginia · St. Albans

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