EAST HARTFORD, CT - A new policy created by the East Hartford Town Council will reportedly regulate how the town's police department can use technology including license plate readers, surveillance cameras, drones, and traffic enforcement cameras.
The ordinance went into effect on September 24. Dan Bell, the vice chair of the Town Council, said the years worth of work that led to the creation of the policy was key in managing "how technology creeps further into our lives," CTInsider reported.
"I believe this is one of the most important things that we'll do as a Council and it's only the first step," Bell said at the September 2 meeting where the Town Council unanimously approved the new ordinance. Part of the ordinance governs how police can use existing technology in town, like the 15 surveillance cameras already installed across town on public roads and sidewalks.
Other sections of the ordinance mandate how data is collected and used on potential future technologies, like license plate readers and both speed and red light enforcement cameras. "Approval tonight does not mean that new cameras and devices are going up immediately," Bell said.
"This ordinance is merely the foundation for protecting our data, limiting the power of government and making our roads safer if the Council approves technologies after future review," he added.
The ordinance states that all data collected must be deleted within 30 days unless it is part of an ongoing police investigation.
The ordinance also notes that facial recognition is not a feature of technology. Bell said that was important because he worried about how the cameras would adversely impact community members.
"Even after all of these important revisions I still feel a level of discomfort," Bell said.
"We know that surveillance technology, good intentions or not, of disproportionately impacts communities of color. As one of the most diverse communities in this state, throughout this process I've worried if I would unintentionally hurt East Hartford by supporting any ordinance which opened the door for more technology, so I worked harder to prevent that from happening."
The police department will also be mandated to create annual reports about the technology. "We also created an annual report that has to come to the Town Council and is put on our town website," Richard Kehoe, chair of the Town Council, said.
"That report, which comes from the police chief, provides a whole host of information regarding how that technology was used and analysis of how it benefited or furthered the goals of public safety," he added.
"It creates a living process that will allow the town, the Town Council, and the police department to navigate the ever changing roles of technology."
The ordinance also laws out how potential future speed and red light enforcement cameras will work. Under the new policy, those cameras would fine drivers who go through a red light and speed 15 mph over the speed limit $25 on the first violation and $35 on repeat violations.
Noise cameras, similarly, would fine violators creating noise above 85 decibels, with a warning on the first violation, $100 on a second violation, and $250 for repeated violations. All violations are able to be appealed by the public.
Drones, which are also regulated by the ordinance, will only be able to be used by police for "emergencies, accidents, crime prevention, or safety planning." Kehoe said that those restrictions should prevent the technology from being abused.
"Technology can be good, but it can also be abused," Kehoe said.
"Through this ordinance we tried to make its use very narrow to prevent abuses from happening. As we know, technology changes all the time. It’s awfully hard to legislate regulations of technology because by the time you legislate, technology has developed several iterations in that time period."
The mayor of East Hartford applauded the Town Council's thoughtfulness on the policy, which he thinks will make the town safer. "Nothing we do it just because, nothing we do is reactionary. It's with thought. It's with intent and purpose," Mayor Connor Martin said.
"At the end of the day, this is not to make money. It's to curb behavior and to get people to follow our traffic laws."
Martin said the town is also considering roundabouts and other traffic calming features on roadways as other tools to help the town's police department. "This acknowledges that our police department cannot be at every intersection at once," Martin said. "If we're going to create a safe community, a walkable community, we need to deploy other tools that are going to give our police the enforcement strength that they need."
The ordinance went into effect on September 24. Dan Bell, the vice chair of the Town Council, said the years worth of work that led to the creation of the policy was key in managing "how technology creeps further into our lives," CTInsider reported.
"I believe this is one of the most important things that we'll do as a Council and it's only the first step," Bell said at the September 2 meeting where the Town Council unanimously approved the new ordinance. Part of the ordinance governs how police can use existing technology in town, like the 15 surveillance cameras already installed across town on public roads and sidewalks.
Other sections of the ordinance mandate how data is collected and used on potential future technologies, like license plate readers and both speed and red light enforcement cameras. "Approval tonight does not mean that new cameras and devices are going up immediately," Bell said.
"This ordinance is merely the foundation for protecting our data, limiting the power of government and making our roads safer if the Council approves technologies after future review," he added.
The ordinance states that all data collected must be deleted within 30 days unless it is part of an ongoing police investigation.
The ordinance also notes that facial recognition is not a feature of technology. Bell said that was important because he worried about how the cameras would adversely impact community members.
"Even after all of these important revisions I still feel a level of discomfort," Bell said.
"We know that surveillance technology, good intentions or not, of disproportionately impacts communities of color. As one of the most diverse communities in this state, throughout this process I've worried if I would unintentionally hurt East Hartford by supporting any ordinance which opened the door for more technology, so I worked harder to prevent that from happening."
The police department will also be mandated to create annual reports about the technology. "We also created an annual report that has to come to the Town Council and is put on our town website," Richard Kehoe, chair of the Town Council, said.
"That report, which comes from the police chief, provides a whole host of information regarding how that technology was used and analysis of how it benefited or furthered the goals of public safety," he added.
"It creates a living process that will allow the town, the Town Council, and the police department to navigate the ever changing roles of technology."
The ordinance also laws out how potential future speed and red light enforcement cameras will work. Under the new policy, those cameras would fine drivers who go through a red light and speed 15 mph over the speed limit $25 on the first violation and $35 on repeat violations.
Noise cameras, similarly, would fine violators creating noise above 85 decibels, with a warning on the first violation, $100 on a second violation, and $250 for repeated violations. All violations are able to be appealed by the public.
Drones, which are also regulated by the ordinance, will only be able to be used by police for "emergencies, accidents, crime prevention, or safety planning." Kehoe said that those restrictions should prevent the technology from being abused.
"Technology can be good, but it can also be abused," Kehoe said.
"Through this ordinance we tried to make its use very narrow to prevent abuses from happening. As we know, technology changes all the time. It’s awfully hard to legislate regulations of technology because by the time you legislate, technology has developed several iterations in that time period."
The mayor of East Hartford applauded the Town Council's thoughtfulness on the policy, which he thinks will make the town safer. "Nothing we do it just because, nothing we do is reactionary. It's with thought. It's with intent and purpose," Mayor Connor Martin said.
"At the end of the day, this is not to make money. It's to curb behavior and to get people to follow our traffic laws."
Martin said the town is also considering roundabouts and other traffic calming features on roadways as other tools to help the town's police department. "This acknowledges that our police department cannot be at every intersection at once," Martin said. "If we're going to create a safe community, a walkable community, we need to deploy other tools that are going to give our police the enforcement strength that they need."
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