New Haven Mayor Urges Collaboration With Cities Before Adding Restrictions on Safety Cameras and ALPRs

NEW HAVEN, CT — Following Friday's announcement by Gov. Ned Lamont where he called on the Connecticut Police Officers Standards and Training Council to review "safety cameras and automated license plate reader technology," and by municipalities across the state, and urged cities and towns "immediately pause the installation of any new cameras," New Haven's mayor weighed in.

"While New Haven does not use Flock as the provider for our safety camera system, safety cameras are an invaluable tool for the New Haven Police Department that are helping to keep our residents and community safe," Mayor Justin Elicker said. "Cameras help our officers respond to public safety incidents in real-time and provide critical evidence that supports investigations that enable us to apprehend criminals and bring them to justice."

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Lamont asked the POST council to develop guidance for local and state police departments that, among other things, outlines privacy provisions in existing Connecticut state statutes and recommends specific policies that should be adopted before any police departments implement such technology. He gave POST 30 days to do so.

Lamont said that "many of the state's residents are justifiably concerned about the privacy issues that can result from the use of this public safety technology."

"I am in agreement with the many residents across Connecticut who are seeing this technology being implemented by their towns and are wondering what types of privacy protections are being implemented for ordinary people who are just going about their lives," Lamont said. "I understand that this equipment is intended to keep our towns and roads safe—and that's a good thing—but we must have clear policies in place regarding what is happening with this data, who has access to it, and how it can be used."

Specifically, the governor is requesting this guidance to:

• Identify the various camera and ALPR technologies in use today (school zone traffic enforcement safety devices, work zone speed control cameras, fixed ALPR devices, drones, etc.) and the relevant statutory framework for each of those technologies;
• Outline Connecticut law's requirements for permissible use of the data collected by such devices, including how long information may be stored, how it may be used, and how it may or may not be shared outside of local and state authorities;
• Discuss the relevant Trust Act, Shield Law, and data confidentiality provisions in state law; and
• Recommend the policies to be created and adopted by a local or state agency before any such technology is rolled out by that entity.

In a statement, Elicker agreed "it's important that camera technology has appropriate privacy protections, and we have worked very hard to strike that balance and maintain control of the data from our camera systems."

"We intend to continue to use safety cameras and license plate reader technology in a manner that appropriately balances the need to keep our community safe while also respecting the privacy of our residents," he said.

"We are making significant progress on gun violence in our city, and these cameras have played an important role in that progress," Elicker said. "While we understand the concerns of the governor and some legislators, we urge them not to put additional restrictions on the use of cameras without collaborating and engaging with cities like New Haven."

In May, Governor Lamont signed legislation (Public Act 26-14) that includes provisions intended to clarify some of these privacy concerns in state statutes. However, he agrees that more needs to be done to strengthen these protections.