Cameras track, keep license plate numbers
The fight over civil liberties is heating up as cities such as Sugar Land move forward with a big brother approach to crime prevention.
The city is planning to spend up to $3 Million to install 200 cameras at all points in and out of town to capture license plate numbers which can be tracked in case of a crime.
The ACLU's Dottie Griffith says her group obviously has some concerns.
"Who has access? How long the information can be stored? And exactly what the information can be used for?" says Griffith.
"As long as the rights of innocent citizens are protected, I think the use of technology is legitimate," she says. "We just want to be sure that is the case."
City spokesperson Doug Adolph insists the footage will be kept safe.
"The proposal that we have would limit access to the data to 10 days," says Adolph. "It would only be accessible by detectives who would access the system after a crime occurs."
"The cameras would then override the data that is in the system," he says.
Several hearings are planned to work out the details.
