NAMPA, Idaho — Nampa Police Department (NPD) is the first department in the State of Idaho to take on recording their traffic cameras – a project that cost around $6.1 million.
Traffic camera videos are stored for 14 days, and the license plate readers are stored for 60 days, Nampa Police Chief Joe Huff said.
“It's just a smarter, better way to police and in the City of Nampa right now,” Huff said.
The system will alert deputies if they see a bad crash, wreck, or suspicious activity. Then – deputies on call will watch the footage and determine the severity.
“This is basically just having 20 or 30 extra police officers on 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Huff said.
Depending on what they find – they can send deputies to the scene instantly, Huff said.
“Whenever we receive alert and alert through our system, we still have to verify that information to make sure it's still legitimate,” Nampa Police Officer Brandon Feldman said.
They can use the recorded footage to help them solve cases later on – like who was in the wrong in a crash or even find missing people, Huff said. The public can also request access to the footage by Public Records Requests.
“We've put some great cases together -- some cases we've solved that there's no way we would have solved them if we didn't have this technology,” Huff said.
Feldman said they can even watch the traffic signals to watch traffic patterns – and control them at the station to improve traffic flow.
“They can make us all the lights stay green longer, to let traffic flow through faster,” Feldman said.
When the cameras were being discussed, Huff said some were wondering if they violated privacy rights. However, he said just like any other surveillance footage, police have to have a clear reason to access it – following the Fourth Amendment.
“We have to have a lawful reason to get into the system to see what's going on. We can't just arbitrarily get in there,” Huff said.
Rebecca De Leon – who works for the American Civil Liberties Union in Idaho – said these cameras feel like a privacy violation.
"We should not have to be monitored by the government at every turn,” De Leon said.
She said she worries 24/7 recorded cameras like this could lead to over-policing and discriminating against brown and black communities.
“The fact that everybody is being monitored always has, historically and now always has had a negative effect that disproportionately affects people in marginalized communities, whether that be people who identify as transgender or people who dress a certain way,” De Leon said.
She added the more people that are monitored means the more racial discrimination there could be.
“I don't know that this technology would help or hinder that, but it certainly is something that I think people should be wary of,” De Leon said.
Huff said Nampa PD is happy to show anyone who wants to see the system how it works – and they can schedule a tour by calling the police department.
“We want to be transparent with what we have,” Huff said. “We want to make sure that we're using the tool correctly and we are using it correctly. And we would like the opportunity to show those in the community what we have down here, how we use it and why we use it.”