By Brittany Anderson
BUDA — While some residents have voiced privacy concerns regarding the potential installation of license plate reader cameras, Buda officials say that these cameras will be an asset to the community to help solve and prevent crime.
The Buda City Council unanimously voted to establish an Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) operating policy with the Buda Police Department during the regular council meeting on Aug. 16. The vote included an addition of an annual evaluation of the cameras.
The idea of implementing ALPR cameras has been discussed at previous council meetings and has faced some pushback from council members and residents, mainly due to privacy concerns, although cameras have already been installed in Buda’s Garlic Creek subdivision after the neighborhood HOA decided to put them up.
Buda Police Chief Bo Kidd said that following council recommendations, the city attorney reviewed the initial policy and made additional language changes regarding the release of camera information.
Kidd explained that the cameras will not be watched or monitored, but only reviewed after the fact if there is a criminal investigation. Only three people in the Criminal Investigations Department would have access to the information.
Additionally, Kidd reiterated that the cameras are not designed for traffic enforcement, but for criminal investigations, and that data is purged after 30 days.
“If you look in the policy, officers can’t use an ALPR hit as a basis for a stop,” Kidd said. “Members will not take any police action that restricts the freedom of any individual based solely on the ALPR alert unless it has been validated. … Officers are reminded they need to have reasonable suspicion or probable cause to make a stop of any vehicle. The alert itself doesn’t give us justification by our policy to make a stop or detention.”
Kidd said that the Attorney General has “consistently ruled against” releasing information collected from these cameras to the public, and that the city attorney feels confident that it would not be subject to open records requests. He also noted that the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that there are no issues with ALPR cameras, as there is “no expectation of privacy in a public place.”
As well as addressing previous council concerns, Kidd shared the results of a community survey that was conducted regarding the cameras.
Over 200 responses were recorded on the first survey. When asked if they were supportive of law enforcement’s use of these cameras on public roadways to help solve crimes, 140 said yes, 50 said no and 17 were undecided. When asked if they would support their HOA installing cameras in their right-of-way to help solve crime, 141 said yes, 52 said no and 14 were undecided. When asked if they had any concerns, 94 said yes and 109 said no.
When discussing the cameras at a previous council meeting, Buda PD Community Affairs Officer Freddy Erdman said that there have been several instances when these cameras would have made a difference — for example, burglaries at a local donut shop and a criminal mischief incident with someone using a pellet gun on Main Street business windows.
“With things like that, it would certainly help us get a workable lead by having these cameras in the right of way,” Erdman said.
Council member LaVonia Horne-Williams also voiced her support for the cameras.
“Being that a lot of neighborhoods are close to roadways that make it a quick getaway for people, it’s very difficult for the police to have options on how they solve those crimes,” Horne-Williams said. “I get the privacy issue. … but I think when we look at 21st century policing and us wanting to lead the pack in that, we have to come up with technology that helps us better solve crimes.”
In addition to the initial item of approving the camera policy, the council approved the use of grant money to pay for the cameras in a 6-1 vote. Council member Paul Daugereau was the dissenting vote, saying that he believes the money could be better spent elsewhere.
“To me, the money would be better spent on giving police officers more raises, new cars, or having more police on shifts,” Daugereau said. “Once we put them up, they’re probably not coming down. We still start spending money that we could be putting into community policing. I don’t know if this is something we need right now in the community.”
Kidd, however, said that using this grant money would give the council an opportunity to try the cameras for a year and not use taxpayer money.
The grant includes up to $20,000 in funds for the purchase of APLR cameras by the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority. Buda PD would partner with the camera’s manufacturer Flock Safety to install the cameras, which would remain separate from the partnerships that Flock may have with any homeowners’ associations in Buda.
Council member Monica Davidson said she “loves the idea” of a trial period, as it will eventually be an expense issue once the grant money runs out.
For the first year, the quote for six cameras is $20,000, which would be covered by the grant. Every year after that, the cost is $15,000, as there wouldn’t be installation fees, just the ongoing lease agreement. Maintenance is also covered by Flock.
The council agreed that moving forward, there needs to be significant education on these cameras to make the community aware in transparent, simple language of what data is retained and who can see it.
Additionally, the effectiveness of the cameras will need to be reviewed at the end of the one-year period to see what worked and what didn’t for the community before they commit to purchasing the cameras without the grant money.
Kidd said that regardless if the city decides to move forward with implementing the cameras or not, a policy needs to be in place as other law enforcement agencies and HOAs are wanting to share their data with them, and that ultimately, he feels these cameras are critical to the mission of the department.
“When people are victimized in our community, we want to solve that crime and get their property back to them if we can,” Kidd said. “I think this would aid us in getting that accomplished.”
