Just days after the Town of Taos voted to remove Flock Safety's automated license plate readers (ALPRs), the Taos County Board of Commissioners is set to consider the State of New Mexico's request for permission to place such cameras on highway lighting fixtures and to pay the electricity bill.
This is in addition to the lingering question of the 20 cameras the county approved but remains tabled.
The news broke in today's release of the Taos County Commission's agenda for next week at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. Item XI.D reads:
Discussion, consideration and decision regarding the approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the NM Department of Public Safety and Taos County. The Agreement will allow for placement of ALPR's by the NM Department of Public Safety on roadway lighting fixtures within the jurisdiction of Taos County - Debra Chavez, Interim Public Works Director & Jason Silva, Deputy County Manager
The agreement is broad, covering expectations for both the state and county. It does not cover, however, specifics on how many cameras, the planned location of cameras, or the company to be used. A lot more transparency should be demanded before this is even seriously considered.
Take Action
We're dealing with two levels of government here: the county and the state. Speaking out to county commissioners should be first and foremost to stop this now.
Contact the Commissioners Before the Meeting
County business happens fast so reaching out to the commissioners before the meeting helps. You can either write your own commission or all five at the same time.
Find your county district on this map.
Find your county commissioner (You can't click on their photos so click on their name on the left menu for email and phone information).
Or here's all of their email addresses, ready to copy and paste: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Add Your State Representatives
It may not hurt to CC your state representatives, as they may not be familiar with ALPRs or the issues with them.
Some Initial Thoughts
What I think is at issue here is a serious lack of transparency and liability that the state is asking the county to take on. The public does not have much information at all about the state's contract, policies, or security practices with ALPRs. There's one law regarding ALPRs specifically in New Mexico and it focuses on a limited set of data sharing scenarios.
And with legal questions still unresolved, especially after the Supreme Court last month potentially leaving room for the unconstitutionality of ALPRs, the risks of retroactively undoing convictions remains. How many people, who should legitimately be held accountable for a crime, will be let go?
Lastly, the state is no stranger to addressing root causes of crime, such as last year's signing of the universal childcare law. The state should build on efforts like that, not build a mass surveillance network.