S.C. arrest sparks push for regulations on license plate readers
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - A controversial traffic stop last month in North Myrtle Beach is renewing a push for more law enforcement ability and state regulations.
State Rep. Todd Rutherford has tried three times to introduce a bill regulating license plate readers, but it has never reached the House floor.
Paul Bowers with the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina said he believes there is a problem with license plate reader regulations across the state.
“The problem with that is no one along the way is doing the work of ability,” Bowers said. “Nobody is setting up guardrails for how this technology is used. Particularly, in the case of automatic license plates, there are often no real rules in place about how data are collected, how they’re stored, how long they’re stored, or how they can be used as evidence in court.”
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La’Nisha Hemingway, 18, filed a lawsuit against North Myrtle Beach police claiming she was wrongfully detained at gunpoint.
The lawsuit states officers received a notification from a license plate reader that her car was stolen.
Shortly after Hemingway was detained, officers reportedly realized they had pulled over the wrong car. The suit alleges the acknowledgment was caught on body camera video.
Some influential advocates claim better standards for the tech could have prevented this situation, but the officers involved are equally responsible for escalating it.
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“We’re also getting into, is the license plate reader to blame if it, did it get that information before the officer got out of the car that was the wrong car? Who’s to blame at that point?” said Rutherford.
Bodycam video from the incident also seems to show, that at least one of the officers knew they were pulling over the wrong car prompting further questions from lawmakers like Rutherford.
“Here we have a situation where an officer knew before pulling her gun out, that that situation did not warrant that, yet she did it anyway,” Rutherford stated. “And what’s going to happen to her? Why are we waiting to find out? Why can’t they tell us?”
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