Eye On Illinois: Plate reader dashboard remains a useful tool as controversy swirls

I hate to say I told me so.

While researching last week’s statement from Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias accusing Mount Prospect police of improperly sharing information from automatic license-plate readers, I came across my own column from almost 365 days ago following a Capitol News Illinois report with state police crediting the technology for finding suspects in 82% of 2024 highway shootings, and 100% in eight fatal incidents.

Opponents argued the 400-plus readers collected too much data without justification. In May 2024, readers recorded 215 million vehicle images paired with precise times and dates, yielding 1.4 million hits on plates flagged for possible crime connections. The Liberty Justice Center sued on behalf of two Cook County residents asking a judge to halt the program (tinyurl.com/SchollvIL).

My main point was highlighting the state police transparency page for the plate reader program (tinyurl.com/ALPRdata) and encouraging conversation with elected officials to assess their views of the program.

Anyone who took that suggestion would know there now are almost 700 cameras in 22 counties, but more importantly would be well prepared to react to the allegations Texas authorities accessed data from Illinois agencies that should’ve been protected under our state laws.

The issues here are specifically related to abortion and immigration, but privacy advocates could provide a detailed list of reasons anyone who drives in Illinois should be concerned about what the government knows and how well that information is protected.

Looking back at the May 2024 numbers, I noted the 1.4 million pieces of previously unavailable evidence are balanced against 213.6 million images that may never be useful. But that was naively written without considering who from outside Illinois might be interested – public officials who don’t owe us anything as we’re wholly outside their constituency.

I should’ve revisited ISP’s dashboard within the past year, but I also should’ve more deeply explored the privacy concerns, including consideration of U.S. District Judge Martha Paced dismissing the aforementioned lawsuit on March 31 (tinyurl.com/ALPRdismissed).

It’s quite likely this issue is far from over. We should all pay closer attention.

ADVOCACY TRAINING: Restore Justice, a nonprofit policy group focused on the effects of incarceration, is offering what it calls Advocacy Trainings. The free sessions are designed to apply to anyone interested in how the General Assembly operates. There are two Zoom sessions: July 8, titled “Advocacy 101,” and July 23, “Building Relationships with Legislators.” For more information, visit tinyurl.com/RJAdvocacyTraining.

WILD TURKEY TRACKING: The Department of Natural Resources needs volunteers to help survey the wild turkey population through the end of August. Results from the last five years show a healthy, growing population. For more information, including a link to the online form to input observations, visit tinyurl.com/TurkeyTracking.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.