Surveillance Vehicles?

[catch22]

Noticed today two different cars on opposite sides of I-44 by the airport. They were ordinary civilian SUV’s parked on the shoulder (emergency lane). I noticed they had a somewhat concealed camera on the roof pointing into the traffic lanes.

I’ve also seen unmarked Dodge Chargers driving around town with limo tint windows with 4 of these cameras. What are they doing and who are they?

[stile99]

My vote is the mobile cameras that are supposed to be getting the unlicensed/uninsured off the road.

[rtz]

The dark grey Ford Escape with the radar on the roof that was parked up at the construction for 2 days in a row on the north end of the hefner parkway may have either been averaging speed or counting traffic. Not sure which or for who.

The Chargers you have seen with the 4 cameras on the trunk lid I'm pretty sure is a repo company driving around scanning license plates. They also have a Hyundai rigged up the same way.

[Scott5114]

The dark grey Ford Escape with the radar on the roof that was parked up at the construction for 2 days in a row on the north end of the hefner parkway may have either been averaging speed or counting traffic. Not sure which or for who.

Hefner Parkway is a state highway, so traffic counts are done by OkDOT. Their traffic counts are done with a series of pneumatic tubes, that look kinda like hoses, stretched across the lanes (think of the tubes in old-timey gas stations that ring the bell when you drive over it). OkDOT usually tapes these down, leaves them for a few days, and comes back for the data.

So whatever that car was doing, it wasn't counting traffic.

[rezman]

Hefner Parkway is a state highway, so traffic counts are done by OkDOT. Their traffic counts are done with a series of pneumatic tubes, that look kinda like hoses, stretched across the lanes (think of the tubes in old-timey gas stations that ring the bell when you drive over it). OkDOT usually tapes these down, leaves them for a few days, and comes back for the data.

So whatever that car was doing, it wasn't counting traffic.

I ‘ve seen ODOT parked along roadways doing manual traffic counts, but they were in marked ODOT vehicles. Not lowkey dark tinted civilian type vehicles.

[rezman]

There was a grey Jeep Grand Cherokee parked near Santa Fe & 132nd backed into the Acme Brick west entrance, facing north. This jeep had dark tinted windows a single scanner mounted on the roof over the driver side, also aiming north. I drove passed it on the way to grab some lunch and it was still sitting there when I returned. I was eyeballing it pretty heavily and when I pulled into the parking lot and got out to snap a cell phone shot. It huriedly took off north bound on Santa Fe.

My thoughts were maybe they are private contractors scanning tags in the recent push to get uninsured motorists off the streets.

The Dodge Chargers I’ve seen with multiple scanners mounted outside were actual cop cars.

[OKCbyTRANSFER]

I saw one today going to the airport, it was on I44 north on the right shoulder and had on camera mounted looking at the back of cars.

[OKCRT]

I don't like the direction this is going. Invasion of privacy. I'm sure if they scan your tag they can find out anything they want about you in this high-tech computer world we live in. Maybe this is needed in todays world but I don't like it.

[stile99]

I don't like the direction this is going. Invasion of privacy. I'm sure if they scan your tag they can find out anything they want about you in this high-tech computer world we live in. Maybe this is needed in todays world but I don't like it.

At the risk of beating that very dead horse yet again...when was privacy ever expected on a public street, and why would it be?

[OKCRT]

At the risk of beating that very dead horse yet again...when was privacy ever expected on a public street, and why would it be?

The problem is if they can scan your tag to see if your insured I assume they prob. have software that with a touch of a button they can get whatever info they want. I'm sure it's a good tool for law enforcement but it gives them much more power than they should have. This sounds like something the old Soviet Union would use on their citizens. Do we want that here?

[Midtowner]

I don't like the direction this is going. Invasion of privacy. I'm sure if they scan your tag they can find out anything they want about you in this high-tech computer world we live in. Maybe this is needed in todays world but I don't like it.

If you think this is invasive, Oklahoma County has some SCARY toys at their disposal. The rulings are all over the place on this issue. Law enforcement can't use GPS trackers attached to your vehicle to track your car's movement. I'd think similar privacy concerns are at play here. It is more than a little concerning that there are no regulations as to how law enforcement can use this data, how long it can be retained, who it can be sold to, etc.

[OKCRT]

If you think this is invasive, Oklahoma County has some SCARY toys at their disposal. The rulings are all over the place on this issue. Law enforcement can't use GPS trackers attached to your vehicle to track your car's movement. I'd think similar privacy concerns are at play here. It is more than a little concerning that there are no regulations as to how law enforcement can use this data, how long it can be retained, who it can be sold to, etc.

If Law enforcement has it now there will be others with the same capabilities soon to follow. In the wrong hands there's no telling what they could use it for. Pretty scary stuff.

[Mel]

[CloudDeckMedia]

Like surveillance camera video feeds and cellphone location histories, the automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) are another forensic law enforcement tool to retrace a suspect’s movements. ALPRs are also placed in discrete, permanent locations, a less-costly option than the vehicle mounts.

[Bill Robertson]

An officer can already enter your plate and know everything. It seems to me that the only real difference is scanning can do the same thing in mass.

[Midtowner]

U.S. v. Jones--a unanimous decision--established that the 4th Amendment protects against warrantless searches in which law enforcement would place a GPS device on someone's vehicle to track their location. Law enforcement argued in that case that no one has a reasonable expectation of privacy on a public thoroughfare. The Supreme Court rejected that argument. If law enforcement was to post a sign near wherever these cameras are to inform the public that their license plates were being photographed, I don't think there's a constitutional issue. Otherwise, I think this practice has a lot of problems constitutionally.

[emtefury]

U.S. v. Jones--a unanimous decision--established that the 4th Amendment protects against warrantless searches in which law enforcement would place a GPS device on someone's vehicle to track their location. Law enforcement argued in that case that no one has a reasonable expectation of privacy on a public thoroughfare. The Supreme Court rejected that argument. If law enforcement was to post a sign near wherever these cameras are to inform the public that their license plates were being photographed, I don't think there's a constitutional issue. Otherwise, I think this practice has a lot of problems constitutionally.

To put a spin on this. If it is a repo company, the 4th amendment does not apply because it is not a Government actor.

[Midtowner]

To put a spin on this. If it is a repo company, the 4th amendment does not apply because it is not a Government actor.

In Oklahoma, GPS tracking absent consent is stalking. Even before that was the case, I still wouldn't allow my private investigators to use GPS trackers as I thought there were very questionable issues when private parties used them.

[Bill Robertson]

I would think that tracking your vehicle with a device specifically attached to it for that purpose and scanning a tag every vehicle has one of and that’s displayed for public view are apples and oranges.

[CloudDeckMedia]

Just throwing this out there: What would everyone think about the OHP automatically issuing speeding citations on an Oklahoma turnpike based upon your travel time between PikePass sensors?

[OKC Guy]

Just throwing this out there: What would everyone think about the OHP automatically issuing speeding citations on an Oklahoma turnpike based upon your travel time between PikePass sensors?

Then its time to go back to tossing change and no pass

[CloudDeckMedia]

Then its time to go back to tossing change and no pass

That wouldn't work. Back in the old days, an attendant would present a time-stamped stub when entering the turnpike, and give it to another attendant at your exit. The OTA could do it, but I can't imagine that they ever would. However, the NJ Turnpike used to do something similar - toll plaza attendants would notice infractions and alert a trooper standing nearby who would wave over the motorist and cite him for equipment violations, expired tag, etc.

[Bill Robertson]

Just throwing this out there: What would everyone think about the OHP automatically issuing speeding citations on an Oklahoma turnpike based upon your travel time between PikePass sensors?

I’m really surprised they don’t.

[rezman]

Just throwing this out there: What would everyone think about the OHP automatically issuing speeding citations on an Oklahoma turnpike based upon your travel time between PikePass sensors?

They used to do that back in the day. I remember on the Turner Turnpike, when you entered the gates that used to be by I-35, you would get a time stamped ticket, and at any of the attended gates between there and Tulsa, you could receive a speeding ticket if you arrived there too soon.

[stile99]

The problem with this is make one stop and you've gamed the system. Using Turner as an example, it's 86 miles. At a speed limit of 75MPH that's just over an hour. So if you're there in an hour, you sped, you get a ticket, right? So if you drive 90MPH you're in trouble, cause it's timed.

Anyone who gets a ticket deserves it, because all you need to do is stop once to go pee and you've padded the time. Other than the cops along the way might have something to say about it, you can do 90. The time in line waiting to pay might even be enough to pad it up. Of course, back in the days of "double nickel" maybe it made sense, but it's just not worth the time now. Even with the automation of Pikepass.