Wealthy SF suburb wants license plate readers to keep tabs on the poor

Source: Menlo Park-Woodside Almanac

Portola Valley residents are soon to confront a tradeoff: continuing privacy in their driving habits or giving up some measure of that privacy in the interest of combating crime.

The Town Council plans to hold public forums early in 2015 to discuss costs and benefits and seek opinions on round-the-clock police surveillance of the license plates of all vehicles passing through town.

... Mayor Ann Wengert said that civil liberties should be a top priority, but that crime is an important issue in Portola Valley. "We all know that there's an economic disparity that's increasing," she said.

Asked in an interview to elaborate, Ms. Wengert said that a wealthy community can create incentives for would-be criminals. "Any time you have that kind of bifurcation in the economic situation of your residents in the whole place, that can certainly result in a targeted location," she said.

Read more: http://almanacnews.com/news/2014/11/09/electronic-eyes-along-portola-valley-roads