The city of Oneonta’s Community Police Board may be weighing in on the use of automatic license plate readers by the Oneonta Police Department.
During the Common Council meeting Tuesday, Sept. 1, Carolyn Marks, D-Seventh Ward, reiterated her prior call for the CPB to review the city’s use of the technology.
She said she thought it was important that the body “have some say into this.”
“This is why we have the commissions and boards as advisory bodies to help shape any kind of policy or discussion,” she said.
“Well said, agreed,” Mayor Dan Buttermann said.
After the meeting, Buttermann said he had not communicated with the body about the issue, “but I think that was a good suggestion tonight, so that would be a referral to the Community Police Board.”
The volunteer, advisory body meets quarterly. Its last scheduled meeting was in July, city records show.
According to city code, the body’s powers and duties include the ability to “collect and analyze police activity data (arrests, tickets) to understand local demographic trends and provide policy recommendations to the Common Council.”
Board members could not be reached for comment by press time Wednesday.
The calls for the CPB to weigh in come amidst increased nationwide attention on the technology. City Administrator Greg Mattice recently prepared a report on the city’s use of 11 such cameras and Oneonta Police Chief Christopher Witzenburg answered questions from council members at a committee meeting.