Town officials on Tuesday voted in favor of a contract to install 10 “fixed” license plate readers around New Canaan.
The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved the $32,000 one-year contract with Flock Group Inc.
Funds for the license plate readers already have been approved by the town, officials said during the regular selectmen meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference.
First Selectman Kevin Moynihan pushed to have the entire discussion about license plate readers held out of the public eye, in executive session, though Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said that wasn’t necessary and Selectman Nick Williams said it was important for the public to understand what’s going on.
“This is a serious matter—it’s not a PR stunt—and I think it’s important that the folks in town understand that we are purchasing a number of license plate readers using the funds that heretofore have been provided to the Police Department,” Williams said. “And they’re going to be around town. We’re not necessarily going to tell you where but they are in ‘strategic locations.’ ” (Williams by “PR stunt” referred to something that Moynihan had said earlier in the meeting—to be included in this Friday’s “Did You Hear?” feature—here’s last week’s.)
New Canaan Police and parking enforcement officers already use license plate readers in the course of their jobs.
Moynihan, Williams and Selectman Kathleen Corbet approved the contract.
Krolikowski noted during the meeting that coverage is one consideration that will help the company choose good locations for the fixed license plate readers.
“I don’t decide where the locations are necessarily, it’s our detectives that are working with an engineer from the company because they’re solar and they’re cellular, so there’s certain locations where there’s good coverage, and other locations where it’s not good,” Krolikowski said. “But it’s sprinkling throughout town to have a good coverage area.”
The chief noted that New Canaan Police one month ago made arrests in a case that could have turned violent.
“Around 3 a.m. officers were following a couple of cars that were moving close together—typically that involves some kind of criminal behavior at 3 a.m.—and the good news is these folks turned down a dead-end street and bailed out of the cars and they ended up being un-reported stolen vehicles with a loaded gun in one of the cars. And in fact one of the gentleman that we arrested that night—I think there were five, two juveniles and three adults—was just arrested in Norwalk for firing shots off, so that tells you how dangerous these people are. So there’s no doubt this data is going to help us solve crimes and if some of these folks are listening today, maybe they’ll stay away from New Canaan, knowing that we’re going to have these readers out there gathering data and helping us aggressively investigate.”
You can bet that they will be recording out of state Registrations and tracking them to New Canaan residents who circumvent paying New Canaan Motor Vehicle Taxes.
I don’t think that level of automated sophistication exists between agencies but if it worries you, don’t cheat the system.
How long will the data be maintained and who will have access to it? I understand the desire to track suspects. The data will be collected on all of us, not just suspects. I want the town to limit data retention and who can access it.
Maybe we can stop our car break ins and thefts.
I suggest at least one in Waveny parking lots to catch people whom use the park’s dumpsters and recycling receptacles for their personal household garbage (as well as for safety of course). Dog park members see this happening daily and it’s getting out of control with oversized items and huge trash bags. If you can drive your garbage to the park, I believe you’re also able to take it to the town dump.
$32000 per year to ‘document’ the thieves who have stolen cars and stolen plates. They may or may not be found by this system and if found, most likely will not get jail time because their offenses are minor. I just see this as more of a surveillance state and less of enforcement. Freedom is a myth if you are constantly being watched electronically and ironically, at your own expense.
Agreed
This is a great idea. Does the system alert in real time against a hot list database, to assist in catching criminals driving stolen or Amber Alert cars? Or is its use limited to an after-the-fact investigative tool?