Bedford County sheriff defends license plate readers

BEDFORD — Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown told members of the board of supervisors on Monday night that license plate readers have proven a useful tool in helping his deputies track down criminals.

But members of the Bedford County Board of Supervisors were not completely sold, raising concerns with the vehicle surveillance technology encompassing many residents not involved in crime.

Supervisor Roger Cheek said he knows many residents who are leery of readers.

“It’s troubling to a lot of people,” Cheek said.

“It’s probably because they don’t understand it,” Brown replied.

Though he said he understood concerns, Brown defended his office’s use of the readers for the past two years as “reasonable.” Capt. Mike Miller said the technology allows deputy cruisers traveling county roads to pick up tag information from vehicles traveling in the opposite lane; the data goes to a hard drive in a highly secure computer that tracks “hits” from suspect information sent from Virginia State Police.

The data is held for 90 days to aid in any potential suspect investigations in that time and then dumped, Brown said. Amber Alerts for missing children and other wanted people would tie into the system, he added.

Information is not shared and deputies have to manually verify alerts before pursuing vehicles, he said.

Maj. Ricky Gardner pointed to a high number of vehicle thefts in Forest as an example in using readers. If a suspect vehicle comes up, investigators can use the database, which is why he said the 90-day retention period is needed.

“It’s just another set of eyes for law enforcement to have out there,” Gardner said.

Forest Supervisor John Sharp said he has a serious concern about keeping information on the vast majority of residents innocent of criminal activity. Taking the data and keeping it for months gives him heartburn, he said.

“Your role is to fight crime and please keep doing it,” Sharp said to Brown. “My role is to preserve freedom … I just don’t want to live in a surveillance society.”

The American Civil Liberties Union said in announcing a report on readers that they pose a threat to Virginians’ privacy if misused. The ACLU does not oppose the technology “when used for narrowly tailored law enforcement purposes,” but objects to building databases for future passive uses.

Gardner told supervisors that the sheriff’s office would not condone any use of readers other than fighting crime and the public can trust that statement. Brown told the board he was giving his word of proper use and to “take that to the bank.”

About a dozen residents attended the session and a few addressed the readers’ use during public comments.

John Briscoe of Thaxton said he does not suspect the sheriff’s office of any misuse and answers appeared forthcoming. He said he still has a few misgivings and would be more comfortable if the data was disposed of immediately rather than kept for three months.

Forest resident Josiah Tillett said he doesn’t like the idea of the government obtaining information without probable cause and supports “a spirit of caution” with the readers.

“It’s a pretty good rule of thumb in dealing with policy that you never take the government’s word for it,” he said.

Also Monday, the board voted 6-1 with Chairman Steve Arrington opposed to modify a set of zoning ordinance text amendments that keeps in place a public notification practice of posting signs on properties subject to hearings on requests for rezonings, special use permits and variances.

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