License plate readers
As the former police chief in Hanson, I agree with the Feb. 4 op-ed, “Public Safety and Privacy Can Coexist.”
In 2018, when a vacant former pub on Route 58 in Hanson was set on fire, police officers immediately began checking camera footage of businesses in the area. Before the fire was even out, a nearby business had provided the fire department with a video of a Jeep Wrangler and a suspicious occupant who entered the building.
Police had a great starting point, a known make and model of a vehicle, but no license plate could be determined from the video. Over the course of the ensuing weeks, investigators checked cameras from homes and businesses and eventually got the Jeep’s plate, and its occupant was one of three charged with arson.
Now, almost 10 years later, technology is assisting officers investigating crimes and keeping their communities safe in much faster ways.
Tools like license plate readers are critical to allow officers to clear cases faster and track down criminals before they act again. Public privacy must be respected and adherence to policies preventing abuse of this technology is essential.
The reality is that these days you cannot walk into a retail store, gas station, school, package store, or bar without being monitored at least once. You cannot drive down your own street without a neighbor’s security camera getting a picture of you.
We need guardrails but also need this critical public safety tool to keep our communities safer.
Mike Miksch
Retired Hanson Police Chief
Climate change
Trump can repeal policies. But he can’t repeal science.
No matter what the fossil-fuel-fueled administration says, carbon dioxide is a leading cause of climate change, and climate change is already taking lives, causing forced migration, devastating agriculture, and running up massive costs. The EPA’s “endangerment finding” acknowledged that part of protecting our environment was limiting CO2 emissions. Trump can repeal all he wants, but that doesn’t change the facts. It merely puts all of us at risk: our health, our property, our lives.
Susan Donaldson, MD
Northampton
Gov. Maura Healey
So the woes of this state are all President Trump’s fault, Gov. Healey? So much for “the buck stops here.” Instead all Healey does is point fingers at President Trump, knowing that will play well to her liberal constituency, the majority of whom are afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Kudos to State Sen. Ryan Fattman for trying to hold the feet of our governor to the fire.
Peter Bochner
Wayland
