In two months, 12.6 million plate photos were captured across Ohio. Eliminating the front plates would cut the data capture by half, she noted.
Related: ACLU: Police record license plates by the millions
Cincinnati stores its photos in a massive database for a year; other agencies have their own retention policies. Dayton police have used the technology since 2010. The photos record the time, date and GPS coordinates.
Whitton said in addition to immediate alerts, the data can be accessed to help investigate crimes. Knowing which cars were in an area at the date of an assault or road rage or hit-skip could help officers find the culprit, she said.
For critics who see the technology as a Big Brother overreach, Whitton said LPR systems don’t record personally identifiable info, only capture images already in public view, and can only be accessed with proper authorization. The technology is grabbing information — plate letters and numbers — that are already required by law to be displayed, she said.
The front plate requirement is a sticking point in the state transportation budget bill negotiations. Lawmakers in the Ohio House want to eliminate it while the Ohio Senate wants to keep it.
Related: How much should Ohio raise the gas tax? Debate continues
House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, and others in favor of ditching the plate requirement say that specialty car owners are forced to drill holes in their front bumpers, detracting from the vehicle value.
Ohio has required a front plate since 1908, except 1944-46 when Ohio wanted to conserve steel for the war effort. Owners of specialty cars have lobbied for dropping the front plate for several years.
Related: Ohio House votes to no longer require a front license plate on vehicles
Whitton’s response? The specialty car owner whose car is dinged in a hit-and-skip would want the LPR systems to capture data on the offender, she said.
“It matters to the victims. It matters to the officers. It is a cost saving because we can investigate cases faster, we can close cases faster. We can bring resolutions to families faster,” she said. “It saves on prosecution time.”
Mike Weinman, lobbyist for the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police, said in addition to LPR technology, front plates are left as clues in crimes such as hit-and-runs. “There is so much value in these front plates.”
Negotiations over the $7.4 billion two-year transportation budget bill broke off Friday and are expected to resume Monday.
Gov. Mike DeWine wants an 18-cent per gallon increase in the state gas tax; the Ohio House proposed a 10.7-cent gas tax increase and a 20-cent hike for diesel; the Ohio Senate is backing a much more modest amount — 6 cents per gallon.
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