Cronin said the license plate data will be kept for 30 days and then erased. It will not be available to the public. Officers can mine the data only in connection with crimes, Cronin said, and the program will keep a record of exactly what information police examine.

For some reason I don't feel reassured that these statements are trustworthy.

"I think it makes the community safer," Police Chief Michael Cronin said

Except from the police, of course.

looks like I won't be visiting Tiburon any more. It is a nice place, and has some interesting shops, but this is going to kill their business.

because this has always worked out so well in the past

Why do idiots think that just saying some trite nonsense makes it all better.

Well, yea, the government does do it.
And you boss.
And your mother.
and, never mind

Ha, I read that as "Richtown". Thought someone was ghettofying Richmond, CA.

Visualingo: Ha, I read that as "Richtown". Thought someone was ghettofying Richmond, CA.

weird tense you use there buddy.

we already got those gun-shot sound triangulating mics installed on all the street lights though.

Well, that has to be Tiburon.
The democrats version of Laguna Niguel.
Off to RTFA

Oh for f*cks sake... I was right.

Followup, Ghost thief robs bank!
Tiburon police have reported no suspects in a recent bank robbery involving no car. Chief headnass commented "we simply don't know who did it or how, but we DO know no cars were involved." Headnass later added, "we are under the operating assumption that a ghost is involved." He gave brief comments when asked if the thief could have been on a bike remarking, "A bike? that's stupid, no one rides a bike when they can drive."

Followup version two:
Tiburon city council members are looking for new solutions to the drop in tourist traffic since installing the cameras. Council woman Ms. Facist remarked, "Apparently people don't want to drive through here anymore and we have no idea why, so we have decided to make downtown parking free to encourage folks to return to our stores." Community members are noted as saying, sure we are losing money hand over fist, but at least things are slightly safer. Plans are currently underway to start using shuttles so that people can park in Sausalito and be dropped off in Tiburon to spend money.

Visualingo: Ha, I read that as "Richtown". Thought someone was ghettofying Richmond, CA.

How can you "ghettofy" what's already the ghetto?

Cyberluddite: Visualingo: Ha, I read that as "Richtown". Thought someone was ghettofying Richmond, CA.

How can you "ghettofy" what's already the ghetto?

Turn it into last decade's East Palo Alto?
Damn that place still scares the hell out of me to ride through.

Oh my god, is that a Corolla? Call the police!

Old news is really farking old. This went green about 6 months ago when the story was actually new.

subby:
Rich town will install cameras to photograph every license plate entering town and instantly alert police if they spot a stolen car, a wanted criminal, or the sysadmin's ex-wife's new boyfriend

i don't know what this means.

can someone tell me / clue me in?

I think they do that in Medina, WA. It is a rich town also.

Third_Uncle_Eno: subby:
Rich town will install cameras to photograph every license plate entering town and instantly alert police if they spot a stolen car, a wanted criminal, or the sysadmin's ex-wife's new boyfriend

i don't know what this means.

can someone tell me / clue me in?
System admin...the guy in charge of making the camera network work.

or, well, minorities.

Next month they will link the cameras to registration and parking ticket databases so you can be fined more easily. Then a month after that, the database will be cracked and your drivers license info, SS number and your address will be released onto the web. The month after that they will start tolling the roads based on your license plate to pay for the security expert to fix the holes.

oldandwiser: I think they do that in Medina, WA. It is a rich town also.

Well, there's less to steal in poor towns.

I don't think you have a reasonable expectation of privacy on a street. I don't really like it, but constitutionally I'm not sure there is a problem.

The Handmaidens Tale

/that is all

God I hate it when law school hypotheticals come to life.

TheOmni: For some reason I don't feel reassured that these statements are trustworthy.

i concur.

the cameras can't prove who was driving a vehicle.

Actually I think it's a pretty good idea and probably will decrease the crime rate there.

No surprise, the Farkers who think this is a bad idea are somehow perfectly content for the government to have their healthcare records.

/you can't fix stupid.

Odd, San Rafael PD has/had a few Cronins, what is it with them and LE in Marin? Pity the people they're going after seem to take the bus in and out of Tiburon.

Next, the camera program will be expanded to contact the police for expired tags on cars and jaywalkers. Following program will be to allow data mining corporations to use the system to see what cars visit what stores, find out who owns those cars via make/model/license plate number and what stores they visit to spam your facebook and email accounts. After that, background checks will include seeing where your car has been and where. Too much time at the wrong store (the porno shop for example) could mean failing the background check. And please, don't ever been in the area when a crime in committed. Your car in a 1 mile radius of that crime means you're an instant suspect.

Cue the "I'm a shaaark" pic.

/bonus points if in Spanish

cchris_39: Actually I think it's a pretty good idea and probably will decrease the crime rate there.

No surprise, the Farkers who think this is a bad idea are somehow perfectly content for the government to have their healthcare records.

/you can't fix stupid.

The day you can be falsely charged of a crime from your insurance records, besides not paying bills, is the day you make sense.

CruJones: I don't think you have a reasonable expectation of privacy on a street. I don't really like it, but constitutionally I'm not sure there is a problem.

I don't have a problem with the notion of people on the street seeing my car. I do have a problem with the notion that my mere presence in a town gives the cops the right to run my plates.

BlippityBleep: THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE HATE YOU STUPID SHIAT CALIFORNIANS

Oh please, there are PLENTY of other douchebag communities in America outside of Cali.

AppleOptionEsc: Third_Uncle_Eno: subby:
Rich town will install cameras to photograph every license plate entering town and instantly alert police if they spot a stolen car, a wanted criminal, or the sysadmin's ex-wife's new boyfriend

i don't know what this means.

can someone tell me / clue me in?
System admin...the guy in charge of making the camera network work.

and to follow, The implication is that the system administrator is a stalker who likes to keep tabs on her activities, particularly in regards to who is penising her. The possibility that she was a whore is also on the table, but hardly implied.

CruJones: I don't think you have a reasonable expectation of privacy on a street. I don't really like it, but constitutionally I'm not sure there is a problem.

Isn't there something about unlawful search and seizure that prevents cops from running license plates without due cause?

Guess not.

http://news.cnet.com/Police-blotter-When-can-cops-run-license-plate-searches/21 0 0-1030_3-6116296.html

AppleOptionEsc: cchris_39: Actually I think it's a pretty good idea and probably will decrease the crime rate there.

No surprise, the Farkers who think this is a bad idea are somehow perfectly content for the government to have their healthcare records.

/you can't fix stupid.

The day you can be falsely charged of a crime from your insurance records, besides not paying bills, is the day you make sense.

http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2004/pa-drinker-back-on-th e -road.html

That's one example, but then that's all you asked for.

Come on guys, why don't we finally admit the truth to ourselves and build this?

I MUST DISSENT (new window)

Yeah, because this system works so well.

Since Boulder City, NV installed two of these cameras last summer, they haven't caught a single car. Except the other patrol car in town every time it drives by, because it has the same plate number as an actual stolen car in another state...

Like how people that use calculators all the time use the ability to do moderate math in their heads, how much more does this type of technology handicap our police by making them both lazy and dependent on flawed technology, rather than them being self-reliant?

BlippityBleep: THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE HATE YOU STUPID SHIAT CALIFORNIANS

Good... stay out, now you can go back to f*cking your sister.

Wait, I know this one. The car was ALREADY IN the town

Know who else used cameras for identification?

Claude Ballse: Like how people that use calculators all the time use the ability to do moderate math in their heads, how much more does this type of technology handicap our police by making them both lazy and dependent on flawed technology, rather than them being self-reliant?

And calculators give the wrong answers?

ghare: BlippityBleep: THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE HATE YOU STUPID SHIAT CALIFORNIANS

Oh please, there are PLENTY of other douchebag communities in America outside of Cali.

Yeah, but only Cali can claim douchebags as their #1 export.

Uchiha_Cycliste: BlippityBleep: THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE HATE YOU STUPID SHIAT CALIFORNIANS

Good... stay out

I've been boycotting California for years but the idiots that spawn into the surrounding regions are impossible to avoid.

DrMcNinja: The possibility that she was a whore is also on the table, but hardly implied.

Oh she's a whore. Every time I take him out for beers I gotta hear about it.

Never has my fark handle been more relevant.

I wish this thread was about some dude inventing Knight Visions though.

ghare: BlippityBleep: THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE HATE YOU STUPID SHIAT CALIFORNIANS

Oh please, there are PLENTY of other douchebag communities in America outside of Cali.

This.

I wonder how they stand in Health Care?

/Never mind.

BlippityBleep: ghare: BlippityBleep: THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE HATE YOU STUPID SHIAT CALIFORNIANS

Oh please, there are PLENTY of other douchebag communities in America outside of Cali.

Yeah, but only Cali can claim douchebags as their #1 export.

Uchiha_Cycliste: BlippityBleep: THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE HATE YOU STUPID SHIAT CALIFORNIANS

Good... stay out

I've been boycotting California for years but the idiots that spawn into the surrounding regions are impossible to avoid.

Not true, Pot and micro chips are our number one exports.
Texas is number one at douchebags.

Everyone knows the police killed a little old lady to get this passed:

Link (new window)

ghare: BlippityBleep: THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE HATE YOU STUPID SHIAT CALIFORNIANS

Oh please, there are PLENTY of other douchebag communities in America outside of Cali.

True, but it's a 1:1 ratio. For every 1 in California, there is 1 elsewhere in the US. Florida is in second place with 589, only a scant 4938 behind the leader.

The city I used to live in had a lower tech way of doing this... They just set the speed limits artificially low so they could go out on traffic on whoever they wanted and check for warrants etc that way. This actually seems like a better alternative to that.