DENVER, CO — A rapidly expanding group of some of the most respected organizations in Colorado are voicing their support for license plate reader technology and its opposition to Senate Bill 70, which would render it nearly useless to law enforcement.
There is a growing list of organizations opposing SB 70, such as the Metro Mayors Caucus, Servicios de la Raza, Colorado Municipal League, Colorado Counties Inc, Colorado Chamber of Commerce, Pueblo Chamber, Vail Valley Partnership, County Sheriffs of Colorado, Associated Governments of Northwest CO, Colorado Association of School Executives, Colorado Springs Police Protective Association, Colorado State Fire Chiefs, Colorado Fraternal Order of Police, Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Wildlife Employees Protective Association, Emergency Medical Services Association of Colorado and Colorado Services Industry Association.
Numerous cities have voiced opposition to SB 70, including Colorado Springs, Arvada, Brighton, Aspen, Fountain, Greeley, Lone Tree, Longmont, Pueblo, Woodland Park, Castle Rock, Monument, Parker, and Firestone.
New industry data in Colorado shows 65% for support for license plate readers. A majority of voters see LPRs as beneficial for finding missing persons (61%), recovering stolen vehicles (58%), apprehending drug and human traffickers (54%), and investigating violent crimes (53%).
License Plate Reader technology can be extraordinarily beneficial to communities for many reasons. Aurora recently used license plate cameras to locate a lost 90-year-old who had driven away in her car. There was a case in Grand County, Colorado, where authorities apprehended a man who had fled from Utah after murdering his parents. The case would not have been solved without the use of LPR in tracking the vehicle across multiple counties.
Recently, there was a fatal hit-and-run crash involving a 14-year-old boy on a motorized bike in Thornton. Within 24 hours, the driver was identified and apprehended using license plate reader technology. This would not be possible with a current bill moving through the legislature about how governments and agencies access a database that stores historical location information
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About the Metro Mayors Caucus
The Metro Mayors Caucus powered by Civic Results is a unique coalition of mayors from across the Denver metropolitan area, comprised of 38 mayors who represent more than 3 million Coloradans, over half of the state’s population. Mayors formed MMC in 1993 to provide a non-partisan vehicle for regional dialogue and cooperation on issues that transcend individual municipal boundaries. MMC serves as a distinctive platform that cultivates personal connections and leverages dialogue to achieve shared goals, address challenges, and develop solutions that benefit both the region and its member municipalities.
The Metro Mayors Caucus operates on a unique consensus-based decision-making model, ensuring that our positions reflect a true regional agreement across partisan and geographic lines. MMC does not take a formal position on legislation unless a super-majority of our 38 member mayors is in agreement.
About Civic Results
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