COMMITTEE ADVANCES BILL TO PROVIDE AUTOMATIC LICENSE PLATE READER DATA SYSTEM

ST. CROIX- Members of the Committee on Homeland Security, Justice, and Public Safety chaired by Senator Steven D. Payne, Sr., convened in a meeting at the Frits E. Lawaetz Legislative Conference Room. Lawmakers received testimony on Bill No. 34-0142- An Act amending the Virgin Islands Code Title 20, chapter 45 by adding subchapter II to provide for an Automatic License Plate Reader System (ALPR) as a crime-fighter tool throughout the Virgin Islands; amending Title 3, chapter 33 section 991(g) relating to public records to exclude captured plate data from automatic license plate readers systems; and providing for other purposes. Separately, the Virgin Islands Fire Department (VIFS) and the Juvenile System presented updates on their operations.

Senator Payne stated that this is a new day in crime-fighting in the Virgin Islands. The Territory will be on-to-par with other jurisdictions. “New York City has more than 60,000 cameras throughout all the boroughs. Some of the cameras are located by education institutions and in business communities. Police officers can solve crimes using visible real-time video.”

Lawmakers voted in the affirmative for Bill No. 34-0142. The measure seeks to permit the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) in collaboration with the Virgin Islands Bureau of Information Technology to develop and maintain an automatic license plate reader system database. The information captured may be used for legitimate law enforcement purposes by law enforcement agencies and regulatory and administrative purposes by other governmental entities. The bill is sponsored by Senator Novelle E. Francis, Jr., and Franklin D. Johnson. VIPD Police Commissioner Ray Martinez mentioned that ALPR, a high-speed, computer-controlled system is slated to be mounted on streetlights, overpasses, highways, street poles, mobile camera trailers, and police squad cars. Moreover, Senator Francis indicated that ALPR has significant benefits specific to tracking and locating vehicles associated with crime and traffic violations. Although in support of the bill, Attorney General Deputy Eric Chancellor cautioned that some of the major challenges are the potential civil rights violation, the retention of license plate data, and the sufficiency of the evidence.