Miami Beach mayor wants license plate readers on private property
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After the DeSantis administration ordered automated license plate readers removed from state roads, Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner has a workaround: Install them on private property.
Why it matters: That is one of two proposals the City Commission will consider on Thursday in response to a debate over privacy and policing around Flock cameras and similar license plate readers.
- Miami Beach, which has most visibly used license plate readers during its spring break enforcement, operates about 40 ALPRs, Meiner has said, adding that roughly half are on state roads.
Driving the news: Meiner, who has criticized the state ban for risking public safety, is proposing to allocate up to $50,000 for the city to install new license plate readers on private property with the owners' permission.
- In his resolution, Meiner states that some neighborhood associations have shown interest in hosting security infrastructure, referencing the license plate readers on the Venetian Islands.
- He also mentioned that the city currently operates plate readers at Mount Sinai Medical Center, which is located on a state road.
- He said the city would provide "appropriate oversight, technical standards, and privacy protections" under his proposed public-private partnership.
The other side: In a separate proposal, Commissioner David Suarez wants the city to pause the installation of new license plate readers for 90 days and impose "strict interim safeguards" while it reviews how police are using the technology.
- After the review, commissioners would decide whether the license plate reader program should continue and under what conditions.
- In his resolution, Suarez says modern ALPR systems "raise significant privacy concerns." The connected databases can potentially reveal "highly sensitive aspects" of somebody's private life, he says, including political activity, religious practices and personal relationships.
- The temporary moratorium "represents a reasonable and measured approach that preserves legitimate public-safety benefits while protecting individual privacy and constitutional rights," he says.
Zoom in: Miami Beach Police's ALPR policy, shared with Axios, already has some of the safeguards Suarez is proposing, including limiting use to legitimate law enforcement purposes and having a supervisor monitor use.
- But Suarez goes beyond that by proposing monthly audits, along with a review by the Office of the Inspector General.
- He is also requesting that searches intended to "reconstruct an individual's historical movements" first receive supervisor approval and documented investigative justification, barring an emergency.
- And while current Miami Beach policy is to retain license plate data for one year, Suarez wants it retained for the "shortest period reasonably necessary" for police purposes.
What's next: Both proposals are on the agenda for Thursday's 8:30am commission meeting.