A bill that would have tightened rules on how government agencies use data from automated license plate readers won’t advance this year, after drawing significant pushback from law enforcement agencies, lead sponsors of Senate Bill 70 said Wednesday.
The bipartisan bill, introduced by Boulder Democrat Sen. Judy Amabile and El Paso County Republican Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, aimed to enforce “common-sense guardrails” on how the technology is used and data is stored, while helping protect privacy rights of Coloradans, Amabile said.
“I pursued this legislation because constituents across our state are demanding action. They do not want to live in a society where their movements are constantly monitored and tracked,” Amabile said in a statement Wednesday. “These camera technologies are spreading very quickly, and quietly reshaping our communities in real time.”
Without clear safeguards on how the data is used and stored, Amabile feared residents’ privacy and freedom would be eroded.
“Misuse of these technologies is a growing problem and has included illegal sharing with ICE,” she added.
Senate Bill 70 would have required agencies to get a warrant before accessing databases if more than 72 hours have passed since the crime.
Supporters of the legislation argued that limits on the growing technology are necessary to protect residents’ privacy and from the tools from being abused.
But the bill was met with overwhelming opposition, primarily from law enforcement officers who testified that retention limits of the data under the bill do not reflect real investigative timelines.
Officers from various departments around the state testified the license plate cameras also help identify suspects tied to violent crimes, when a lack of evidence and witnesses made traditional investigative methods impossible.
Zamora Wilson said the bill’s failure is frustrating, but that she’s not giving up on tackling the issue.
“The good news is we’ve started the discussion,” she said. “I think it’s really critical that we got the ball rolling.”
Amabile said she decided to lay over the bill until next year — a parliamentary move that effectively defeats it for this session — because of the law enforcement opposition and a signal from the governor that he intended to veto the bill over its requirement for a warrant.
“The decision to lay this bill over is based on principle. I am not willing to water down its protections to mere window dressing just to secure its passage,” Amabile said. “Coloradans deserve meaningful safeguards, and this bill was drafted to reflect that standard.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.