BOISE, ID — In December of 2021, Ada County Sheriff's Office met with Meridian and Garden City Police to discuss a plan to install automatic license plate reader cameras on streetlights to help track suspects involved in big cases.
We got in contact with a representative at Ada County Sheriff’s Office and they provided me with some information for the general public to know about this plan.
They plan to use the cameras to investigate and solve the most serious crimes only. The Nampa police have been successful in using the technology in the past. At this point, the county has not purchased the cameras, so there's no start date until they are on the same page as the Ada County Highway District and the Ada County Board of County Commissioners. The rep also explained that these cameras are not red light cameras. They do not look for or catch people speeding or running red lights. They are purely investigative tools. Also, your information is not stored permanently and is erased after 60 days.
I went downtown and spent about two hours at the intersection of 8th and Idaho Street asking people how they feel about this plan. Most of the residents I spoke to were very hot or cold on the subject, with some saying they agree with this plan, and others saying they are not quite comfortable with their information being tracked by the authorities.
One said, “It could definitely have a negative impact. Just because it’s kind of like punishing everybody, just because a small percentage is doing something wrong. They shouldn't be able to track where everyone is going, what everyone is doing, just because some people are doing something wrong.”
Another person who was in favor of the idea confidently said he was not worried explaining, “I mean as long as you're doing everything legally, there's no reason for them to even pick you out. For criminals that are trying to get away, it makes it easier for the police to track them. It makes it easier for them to catch them and bring them to justice.”
