Derek VanLuchene: License plate readers save lives - when used responsibly

When I was a teenager, my 8-year-old brother Ryan disappeared from our backyard while he was playing. Two days after his disappearance, his body was discovered, and a man was arrested in connection with his murder.

The man responsible had served time for past crimes against children and told officials he would reoffend. He did just that. The impact was devastating to my family and me. My promise to Ryan on the day of his funeral was that I would do whatever I could to ensure law enforcement had the tools they needed to respond to missing or abducted children quickly and effectively.

That promise shaped the rest of my life. Now, I travel across the country helping to train first responders on how best to respond when a child is reported missing and every second matters. One of the key tools currently used in missing children investigations is automated license plate readers. These camera systems capture plate numbers in real time and alert law enforcement when a vehicle connected to an active investigation, like a missing persons case, is detected.

In roughly 90% of the cases our child abduction response teams handle nationwide, license plate reader data plays a pivotal role. We’ve observed these systems turn a partial plate into a useful lead, a travel direction into a recovery, and transform a dead end into a saved life. The cameras change results in child abduction cases.

One case from this year stays with me. A developmentally disabled 16-year-old girl was lured online by a violent offender and picked up from her home in rural Montana at 10:30 p.m. Within hours, cameras captured the suspect’s vehicle crossing into Wyoming. When the Amber Alert was issued, Wyoming authorities already had a precise location: an automated license plate reader hit outside Casper. From the moment they received the alert to the moment they took the suspect into custody, just 32 minutes had passed. Thirty-two minutes. That is the kind of speed that saves a child’s life.

A major obstacle to public understanding is that people confuse license plate readers with automated traffic-ticket cameras. They are not the same. Traffic-ticket cameras enforce red lights and speed limits. Automated plate readers help us find kidnapped children, violent offenders, homicide suspects, and missing or endangered adults.

There is growing momentum to implement clear, enforceable rules about how automated license plate reader data is collected, stored, shared and audited. Reasonable retention policies still protect privacy while ensuring officers have the tools they need to do their jobs. A balance is not only possible, but necessary. Trust and safety policies are crucial and may include the following:

• Reasonable retention limits measured in days, not months.

• Clear public reporting and audit requirements.

• Strict, enforceable penalties for misuse.

• Ensuring license plate readers are used only for authorized public safety purposes.

• Full transparency so communities know exactly what the tool does – and does not – do.

These reasonable safeguards can help build trust among communities while ensuring that this incredibly powerful tool continues to be on hand when children go missing. Highly restrictive proposals or even full bans on these camera systems would come at a cost most often borne by victims and their families.

In Washington, current legislation claims to establish safeguards, but SB 6002 overreaches and would significantly undermine the effectiveness of license plate readers. In particular, the bill goes too far by restricting private entities from sharing information with law enforcement without a warrant, which can take days to secure.

Every second counts in a missing person case. Preventing law enforcement from quickly obtaining footage from a school, church or nearby business that may have captured the kidnapping, or crime, gives time for criminals to get away. That’s time missing children simply don’t have.

Let’s strengthen license plate reader systems with common-sense safeguards and make sure law enforcement can continue to use them to bring children home. SB 6002 sponsors should work to revise the bill so it protects privacy without compromising child safety.

I am proud of how far we have advanced in our response to missing and abducted children in this country. I am proud of the men and women who work tirelessly every day to recover missing children. I often think about my promise to Ryan and how this technology can help us do everything possible to prevent another family from experiencing what mine did many years ago.

Derek VanLuchene, of East Helena, Montana, is founder of Ryan United. He trains law enforcement across the country on how to best respond to missing person cases, with a focus on child abductions.