A new committee in Orono will give its council guidance on how to regulate automatic license plate readers.
The committee stemmed from Orono Town Council’s discussion on if the technology should be used in the town. Orono does not currently use automated license plate readers, Town Manager Clint Deschene said in a memo.
Before the committee’s creation, councilors did not agree on what, if any, action regulating the cameras should be taken.
Councils in communities across Maine have discussed how the controversial technology, which captures passing license plate numbers and other identifying information and adds it to a network that can track a person’s movements, should be used because of reported misuses across the country, including wrongly identifying drivers as criminals or using the technology to track people without any legal cause.
Multiple councils have banned the cameras from their towns, but some have continued to use the technology saying that it benefits their police departments.
The council in Orono’s neighboring city, Old Town, held a first reading and public hearing of a proposed ban on automatic license plate readers at its Monday meeting.
Orono Councilors voted unanimously to create the committee and place Councilors John Quinn, Rob Laraway, Deschene and Police Chief Dan Merrill as the members. There was no discussion about the committee before or after the vote. A first meeting date was not set at Monday’s council meeting.
In two previous meetings, council members spoke about three possibilities regarding the cameras — to take no action, to create policy to require council approval of any possible cameras or to pass a ban. Councilors did not agree on what action should be taken at their Oct. 5 meeting, but they did agree that creating a committee to gather more information and input would be helpful.
Councilors Sarah Marx, Quinn and Laraway voiced support for the committee and possible ordinance changes at council’s Oct. 5 meeting. Councilor Jacob Baker said at the Oct. 5 meeting that he was in support of not taking action because the town isn’t using the technology currently and any change would have to be brought in front of the council.
If an ordinance were to be adopted, it could be based on language other Maine municipalities have used, Marx said on Oct. 5. Marx said she favors an ordinance.
“If you want to ensure that there is public discussion about something, the only way to really ensure that is an ordinance. If we make a policy, that doesn’t bind a future council to have to hold a public discussion about it,” she said on Oct. 5.