State looks beyond speeders with use of cameras

Automated cameras that the state Department of Public Safety wants to deploy along some Arizona highways could be used to do more than catch speeders.

Companies bidding for a state contract to supply and run sensor-triggered camera systems are being told to include features that would help spot stolen vehicles and pass the information to law enforcement.

The requirements are included in a DPS request-for-proposals reviewed by The Associated Press under a public records request.

One provision requires that state police be given photos of all speeding vehicles with fictitious, altered or suspended plates. It also requires immediate notification if a stolen vehicle is spotted.

Another provision requires contractors to “provide computer queries” when required for “any law enforcement purpose as requested by the DPS designee.”

The contractor also would have to be able to provide a method for retrieving information on “any photographed vehicle upon request.”

The cameras would be mounted in vehicles and deployed in various locations around the state.

A DPS spokesman, Lt. Bob Ticer, said secrecy requirements for pending state procurement matters prevented him from commenting on specific provisions in the request for proposals.

However, an expert on traffic enforcement technology said the computerized technology required for automated speed enforcement cameras lends itself to a growing list of possible law enforcement uses.

Digital images and data from speed camera systems could be interfaced with other law-enforcement information, such as notifications of stolen vehicles and lists of people sought on outstanding court warrants, said Dennis Duane Bryde, a retired Michigan State University professor who now trains law enforcement officers.

“You may in fact tie it together. It could be used as a law enforcement tool,” he said. “Once that databank is generated, I’m certain that the law enforcement community would want it.”