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Beaufort County committee backs ARPA purchase of license-plate readers despite civil‑liberty concerns
Summary
The finance committee recommended that county council approve an ARPA-funded purchase of license-plate‑reading cameras and software for the sheriff’s office totaling about $262,291, with one member objecting over privacy and retention concerns. Capt. Brian Baird said the system aims to aid investigations of drive‑by shootings and stolen vehicles; the vendor would retain data for 30 days under the proposed contract.
The Beaufort County Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee on Monday voted to forward to county council a recommendation to use $262,291.34 in ARPA funds to buy license‑plate‑reading (LPR) cameras and related services for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, a measure the committee approved with one recorded objection.
Captain Brian Baird of the sheriff’s office told the committee that, after demonstrations from three vendors, staff recommend a combination of Recor LPR units and a Verkada command connector to integrate camera feeds. Baird said the sheriff’s office initially identified about 65 candidate locations countywide but narrowed the project to roughly 23 cameras at about 20 sites so the county could match municipal deployments and fit available ARPA…
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