BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Lawmakers in the House have spurned a proposed program that would allow law enforcement agencies to automatically scan motorists’ license plates.
The House and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 7-3 Tuesday to kill the Senate-backed bill by Lake Charles Sen. Ronnie Johns, a Republican.
Johns had previously tried to launch the program, only to have former Gov. Bobby Jindal veto the bill.
Supporters said the pilot program - with nine parishes participating - was aimed at catching car thieves and insurance scofflaws. Johns said the technology would allow police to cross-check license plates with databases to determine if vehicles are stolen or uninsured.
Critics worried about the involvement of a private vendor slated to get part of the fine money and about data collection privacy.
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Senate Bill 54: www.legis.la.gov
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