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Hudson County delays vote on license-plate reader cameras after residents raise privacy concerns
Summary
Commissioners agreed to carry resolution 20 — authorizing installation of automated license-plate readers (ALPRs) in Weehawken — to the next meeting after public commenters and some commissioners pressed for vendor details, retention-period answers and municipal representatives. County staff said a state Privacy Protection Act acknowledgement will be required of municipalities.
Hudson County commissioners on March 30 moved discussion of automatic license-plate reader cameras in Weehawken to their next meeting after multiple residents and commissioners demanded more information about data retention and outside access.
Public commenter Mark Bloomberg asked the board to "table this for now and do more research" on the vendor and whether ALPR databases can be queried by out-of-state agencies. Several commissioners echoed that request, saying they wanted vendor retention policies and a municipal representative from Weehawken to appear before the board took action.
County administrator Alberico told the meeting the state's recently enacted Privacy Protection Act requires an acknowledgement form be included in agreements that would prohibit municipalities from sharing ALPR data with immigration-enforcement agencies "including ICE" for civil immigration enforcement. Alberico read the acknowledgement language in part: "By signing this acknowledgement form, you acknowledge that your municipality shall comply with the act and agree not to share any information collected by the municipality's ALPR cameras with any immigration enforcement agency, including ICE, for civil immigration enforcement purposes." He said the law department has drafted the form for current and future contracts.
Commissioners pressed for specifics beyond the acknowledgement. One commissioner asked whether ALPR reads that do not generate a "hit" are retained in a cloud and for how long. Alberico said he would research vendor retention and data-access practices and return with answers. Several commissioners requested that a Weehawken representative and the police chief's association be present at the follow-up meeting so local officials could answer technical and operational questions.
A motion to carry (table) resolution 20 to the next meeting carried by roll call; the clerk announced the item will be placed on the next agenda for additional review. The board also asked the administration to provide vendor-identification, retention-period information and the proposed acknowledgement language in advance of that meeting.
The board did not authorize the installations at Tuesday's meeting and said formal consideration will resume once the requested details and town representatives are available.
