By Ella Napack
Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
HARTFORD, Conn. — Gov. Ned Lamont signed into a law on Monday a series of regulations on how police departments in the state can use automated license plate cameras.
The cameras capture images of the back of vehicles as they drive by and are used by dozens of police departments across the state for criminal investigations.
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The regulations, sandwiched into a larger bill on federal immigration enforcement, will prohibit police departments with the cameras from sharing their license plate data with out-of-state agencies that use the data to investigate immigration violations.
The legislation follows a CT Insider investigation that found Connecticut police departments using cameras from Atlanta -based company Flock Safety were sharing data to a “national network” that allowed out-of-state agencies to access their data. The data was searched thousands of times by out-of-state agencies for “ICE,” “ICE-assist” and “immigration” purposes, the reporting found.
“We have a strong Trust Act in Connecticut,” said Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D- Bridgeport, referring to the state’s law restricting what information local police can share with immigration agencies. “Simply uploading into the Flock system for anyone to access certainly circumvents that, so it’s important that we closed that loophole.”
Under the new law, Connecticut law enforcement agencies will only be able to share license plate data with Massachusetts, New York or Rhode Island, given the states agree to not use the data for immigration, reproductive care or gender-affirming health care investigations.
The law also sets limits on how long license plate camera data can be retained, requires law enforcement to report how they use the systems and directs the state’s police council to put forward a model policy on the technology. The new bill also allows the attorney general to enforce the regulations it proposes, and Attorney General William Tong previously said that he planned to look into the searches reported on by CT Insider.
License plate camera regulation was originally proposed this session by three separate committees in the form of three different bills on the matter, spurred by the reporting and widespread public attention to the issue.
“The story about federal immigration searching local police departments data was an impetus for a lot of us, including me, to take a look at this issue,” said Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D- Stamford, said of CT Insider’s reporting earlier this year.
Blumenthal, who proposed a bill on the topic as chair the Government Administration and Elections Committee, worked alongside Stafstrom and other committee leaders to combine the three bills and land on the regulations that ultimately crossed the finish line Monday.
The legislation was met with resistance from some Republican lawmakers who worried that new restrictions could hinder how police departments in Connecticut are able to solve violent crimes or catch criminals that cross state lines.
“I’m torn on license plate readers,” said Republican Rep. David Rutigliano of Trumbull."If you talk to the local police they have recovered a lot of stolen vehicles. It has been really been useful for law enforcement, I also understand the civil libertarian side”
The license plate regulations were added into what became a controversial immigration bill that sparked hours-long debates at the Capitol. The law, now passed, allows federal immigration agents to be sued for civil rights violations and criminally prosecuted in state courts for unjustifiably using deadly force, alongside other provisions. No Republicans voted for the bill in either chamber.
“I think it’s virtue signaling on the part of the proponent of the bill,” said Rutigliano of the license plate reader provisions.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D- Norwalk, however, told CT Insider Monday that the bill was necessary to protect Connecticut residents.
“It’s all part of our democracy agenda and ensuring that we don’t see the overreach of technology and misuse, especially by our federal government, into our lives and that the state can stand up and pass laws that will protect our residents,” Duff said.
Duff had previously been a strong proponent of including provisions to make license plate data confidential and not able to disclose under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Duff cited concerns that bad actors could request license plate data and get information about someone’s whereabouts, but the provisions raised red flags from the state’s Freedom of Information Commission and public records advocates.
The law signed on Monday includes exceptions to what data is confidential, allowing the public to request information about camera locations as well as records on how police departments use the system.
“That was a big deal, that was a delicate balance, but I know we struck the right balance,” Duff said.
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