Letter: Learn from Portsmouth’s rescission on bridge cameras
To the editor: At the July 11 meeting, the Portsmouth Town Council voted 7-0 to rescind their approval of the pilot program to place Automated License Plate Readers at the approaches to the Mt. Hope …
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Letter: Learn from Portsmouth’s rescission on bridge cameras
To the editor:
At the July 11 meeting, the Portsmouth Town Council voted 7-0 to rescind their approval of the pilot program to place Automated License Plate Readers at the approaches to the Mt. Hope Bridge. The testimony of Portsmouth residents at the meeting — and the many messages the Council received — citing privacy concerns and expressing doubt about the claims these cameras would be effective at suicide prevention led the councilors to reconsider their position.
Given that Bristol PD's document was the model for Portsmouth's policy, residents might want to look at the analysis the RI ACLU delivered prior to the meeting highlighting the civil liberties and governance concerns. You can read it online at https://bit.ly/Ports_ALPR.
It's not too late for Bristol to reconsider and support instead the work that Bridging The Gap for Safety and Healing has been doing for years to press the state for suicide barriers.
As one Portsmouth resident said at the meeting, nets stop jumpers; cameras do not.
John McDaid
Portsmouth
