What started off as a pilot program with around a dozen cameras, is not being reported to be up to 162 camers. The Blue Springs Police Department state that they have managed to solve aa number of cases thanks to the network, and remind citizens that they have been using license plates readers on their patrol units since 2012.
“I was curious how they made the decision to go from a small pilot program of, I want to say like 15 cameras, to investing nearly $5 million in a couple of years. We’re currently at 164 cameras around the city,” Blue Springs resident Robert Jestus told KCTV 5 News. “I got a response from the mayor right away telling me that the citizens widely support the program. It’s been very beneficial to the police that if I have any specific questions, I can file a sunshine law request and get city records. They have no evidence of when the cameras have been used or haven’t been used. They don’t have any audit protocols.”
Blue Springs Police Chief Bob Muenz responded to those concerns.
“We do semi-weekly, bi-weekly audits on the system. And that’s done by a lieutenant over the program or members of the command staff or administration. And then those findings are reported to me. And if there are any atypical searches, then we’ll investigate that, look into what those are. We have not had any issues. We’ve identified homicide suspects in several cases. We’ve solved shoplifting cases. We’ve recovered stolen vehicles.”
According to the report by KCTV 5 News, a system hit helped to end an Amber Alert, locating the missing girl within minutes.
“The Blue Springs Police Department uses this information, this technology, to solve crimes that affect residents. We’re not using it to track them,” Muenz said.
“I understand that these things might be enhancing the process. But the question to me is always going to be, if we’re tracking a hundred thousand vehicles for every one vehicle that we’re using to solve an Amber Alert, is that a fair trade of our privacy?” Jestus said.
Muenz said that Blue Springs will keep the program running. The department has added a link for a transparency portal on its website. That can be accessed here.
With all of the reports of misuse around the country … with the continued advancement of Big Brother technology, citizens have the right to be concerned about how this technology will be used, especially when it is contracted through a third party, private company. The courts need to decide if this IS a violation of our 4th Amendment Rights and hopefully put a stop to it.
