ROCHESTER, N.Y. — License plate reader technology, childcare funding, and the proposed county budget were some topics that came up during Tuesday’s Monroe County Legislature meeting.
License plate reader concerns
During the meeting, Legislator Rachel Barnhart claimed that the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is sharing its license plate reader data with nearly 400 agencies across 20 states. She said that the agencies receiving access to the data have partnership agreements with ICE. We’ve reached out to the sheriff’s office about the claims and are waiting to hear back.
The County Legislature voted last year to install license plate reader cameras at dozens of locations for the sheriff’s office to use for public safety. Barnhart said that, when the legislature approved the cameras last year, the sheriff’s office told them the data wouldn’t be shared with federal immigration agents without an underlying criminal investigation.
News10NBC has reported on several cases of local police agencies using license plate readers to make arrests and identify stolen cars. The Greece Police Department says car thefts have gone down significantly since it began using license plate readers, mounted to power poles or traffic lights, for its investigations.
However, News10NBC has also covered privacy concerns with license plate readers. The State Attorney General’s Office warns that, with adequate regulation, the readers could be used to track immigrants, lawful protesters, and other law-abiding citizens. Lawmakers in Albany are debating what laws should control how the images are used, who can see them, and how long they can be stored.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has 61 active license plate reader locations, with a base retention of one year for images and video. If the image or video becomes evidence, it is kept for the life of the case.
Call for childcare funding
Advocates gathered outside the Monroe County Office Building to urge county leaders to increase childcare funding in the budget that County Executive Adam Bello unveiled on Tuesday. Members of Citizen Action and The Children’s Agenda organized a prayer circle as part of their efforts.
“The investments that you make early have a large payoff in the end. We are coming at it not just from a data perspective, but also because all faith traditions call on us to care for children,” said Brigit Hurley, advocacy manager for The Children’s Agenda
Call for housing support
Citizen Action of New York criticized the proposed county budget for not including funding for housing vouchers – also known as Section 8 housing assistance.
“We want to have Rochesterians in housing so that they can send their kids to school so that their kids can eat so that they have a place to lay their head,” said Lewis Castle, with Citizen Action.
Other protesters say it’s frustrating to see projects like the Seneca Park Zoo renovations receive over $67 million in funding, while housing gets nothing.
“We’ve been having to adjust our strategy,” said CJ Militello, also of Citizen Action. “Having one-on-one meetings with legislators, all this work that we put in, and we’re asking for $2 million out of an over $1 billion budget.”
You can read more about the proposed budget here. The county plans to hold one more public input session on the budget on Dec. 3. The final budget vote is scheduled for Dec. 8.
Legislature meeting: License plate reader data concerns, call for childcare funding, and more WHEC.com.
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