An outcry over privacy rights derails use of scanners to track drug smugglers along I-15. Two federally donated license plate scanners meant to track drug trafficking won’t be installed on Interstate 15 in southwest Utah.
The Beaver County sheriff decided that implementing the new technology wasn’t worth a community battle over perceived civil rights violations.
The Washington County sheriff wants more to study the issue.
Both sheriffs were slated to testify in favor of the scanners — to be donated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration — at a June 20 meeting of the Utah Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee.
But in the face of public opposition, the law officers will not be attending the meeting, and they have no immediate intentions to install the scanners. Salt Lake Tribune
