In South Portland, the police want to deploy a car mounted surveillance system on all their cruisers to allow them to scan all license plates within a 360 degree range. Linked to a database, the system alerts the officer of "suspect" vehicles.
In Portland, the Public Safety committee voted unanimously to endorse the use of Tasers by Portland police. After what has been described by the Portland police department as a successful three month trial phase, the City Council will soon decide whether to approve their use.
At face value, both devises sound great.
If the police have to choose between shooting someone with a handgun or a taser, the choice is simple.
But that's a scenario that police rarely, if ever, face.
Far more common is the Taser "success" story cited by police, involving an intoxicated man attempting to open the front door of a (closed?) business in the Old Port. He would not take his hands out of his pockets when ordered by police but did so once they threatened to shock him.
I'm not clear from the article what exactly this man was doing wrong but let's put that aside. Why would you shock an intoxicated man?
Did he threaten the officers? Was he violent? Was there any evidence he had a weapon in his pockets? The article doesn't say. And I assume the police would be certain to mention that if it were the case.
Therein lies the problem. Police willingly use the Taser when they should not.
Check out the instances of abuse and deaths as a result of Taser use by police across the country.
Similarly, car mounted scanners that alert police about stolen cars, abducted kids, and violent criminals with outstanding arrest warrants sound like a damn fine idea.
But that's not all that it will be used for. The system is linked to a database that stores every image it captures. It's a tracking device.
Going further, what's to prevent the police from being alerted and stopping the cars of people with prior drug convictions? What about stopping people with prior speeding or DUI convictions?
The incentive is there. Police departments make a lot of money writing tickets and seizing vehicles. What will prevent this from happening?
Right now, very little.
But the ACLU of MAINE is working on making sure clear guidelines are established if these technologies move forward in Maine.