License plate readers are key to economic prosperity

By PHIL ANDREWS //

Economic opportunity depends on safe communities. Entrepreneurs take risks and open new ventures where customers and employees feel secure. Families buy homes, build careers and invest in their futures when they have confidence in the communities they call home.

That’s why public safety should never be viewed as separate from economic development.

Every effort to revitalize a commercial corridor, expand access to opportunity, help entrepreneurs bring new ideas to life or allow existing small businesses to scale and hire depends on creating communities where people feel safe living and working.

License plate readers are one of the tools that make that possible. Coupled with strong safeguards, smart data-retention policies and clear protocols to ensure responsible use, they provide law enforcement with objective information that can help locate missing children, recover stolen vehicles, identify suspects in violent crimes and generate investigative leads that otherwise would require days if not months of policework.

They help officers and organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children follow the evidence, allocate resources effectively and respond more quickly when the public needs answers.

Here on Long Island, we know feeling safe and secure is critical to success. Communities are stronger when people can raise a family or operate a business without fear.

Properly managed LPR systems are a key component of a modern public safety strategy that helps make that possible. When a vehicle flagged in connection with an AMBER Alert, Silver Alert or criminal investigation passes an LPR, investigators gain an important lead about where that vehicle was seen and when. That information has helped reunite families and provided timely evidence to law enforcement.

Unfortunately, much of the political debate around LPR has been transformed into a political football – framed as a choice between deploying the technology or supporting individual privacy rights.

That narrative is unnecessarily narrow. Rational safeguards can protect civil liberties and hold bad actors accountable without completely discarding lifesaving public safety tools.

Transparency and accountability are the bedrock of public trust. Like any public-safety technology, LPR systems should operate with clear rules – both legal and ethical. Every search of an LPR database must leave a record. Access to data should be limited to legitimate law enforcement purposes. Information should be retained only as long as necessary, with regular audits and meaningful consequences for anyone attempting to misuse the system.

Communities should expect both effective policing and responsible oversight of these technologies.

No technology alone can prevent crime or strengthen neighborhoods. Success depends on trusted partnerships between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Investments in education, workforce development and mental-health services are crucial, as are pathways to entrepreneurship and economic policies that expand opportunity.

But technologies that support public safety are part of that broader effort, providing investigators with reliable information that helps protect the public while reinforcing appropriate legal and constitutional safeguards.

We shouldn’t shy away from innovation that helps protect our neighbors, supports local businesses and creates the conditions for economic opportunity. We should embrace it responsibly and put it to work building stronger communities across Long Island and throughout New York.

Phil Andrews is president of the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce.