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Plate Reader Cameras Going Up In North Lake

    Automated tag-reading cameras are a growing presence in Lake County, with a camera placed on SR 19 in Altoona among the latest spotted along county roadsides.  The cameras take pictures of license plates of passing vehicles and transmit them to a database.  The intent is to find the locations of vehicles being sought by local, state, or federal authorities.
    After briefly being banned in Lake County when similar cameras were installed without Lake County Commission approval, the county approved a request by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to place 108 cameras around the county.
    It is unknown if the camera appearing in Altoona is part of the original allotment, an expansion of the program, or placed there by another agency, as the road is overseen by the State of Florida.
    Automated tag readers are growing in use, with governmental agencies using them to track users of toll roads for billing, and by law enforcement as an aid to locate sought-after vehicles.  While law enforcement hails the technology as a way to help locate a missing senior, an abducted child, or a crime suspect, others fear abuse of the system could lead to people being tracked by the government for less than appropriate reasons.
    The tag readers are generally located on major roadways near county borders.
    In Lake County, deputies also carry technology that allows them to input tag numbers into a database for investigative purposes.