Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/384313
ByTamiAbdollah TheAssociatedPress LOS ANGELES A rapidly expanding digital network that uses cameras mounted to traffic signals and police cruisers tracks the move- ments of millions of vehi- cles across the U.S., regard- less of whether the drivers are being investigated by law enforcement. The license plate scan- ning systems have multi- plied across the U.S. over the last decade, funded largely by Homeland Secu- rity grants, and judges re- cently have upheld author- ities' rights to keep details from hundreds of millions of scans a secret from the public. Such decisions come as a patchwork of local laws and regulations govern the use of such technology and the distribution of the in- formation they collect, in- flaming civil liberties ad- vocates who see this as the next frontier in the fight over digital surveillance. "If I'm not being inves- tigated for a crime, there shouldn't be a secret po- lice file on me" that details "where I go, where I shop, where I visit," said Michael Robertson, a tech entre- preneur fighting in court for access to his own files. "That's crazy, Nazi police- type stuff." A San Diego judge ten- tatively denied Robertson's request under California's open records law, saying all scans are part of ongoing police investigations and that divulging them could compromise criminal cases. Arguments in the case were expected Friday afternoon. Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal's initial judgment comes less than a month after another state judge using the same rea- soning denied a petition by the ACLU of Southern Cal- ifornia and the Electronic Frontier Foundation for one week of records on all ve- hicles collected by the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department — a growing network that picks up more than 3 mil- lion scans each week. About 7 in 10 law enforce- ment agencies used license plate scanners in 2012 and an overwhelming major- ity planned to acquire such systems or expand their use, according to a study by the Police Executive Re- search Forum, a research and policy group. Civil liberties advocates say these files need to be open to public scrutiny to prevent government over- reach and unconstitutional privacy invasions. On the other side are government and law en- forcement officials who say they're not misusing the systems and that tracking and storing the data can help with criminal investi- gations, either to incrimi- nate or exonerate a suspect. "At some point, you have to trust and believe that the agencies that you utilize for law enforcement are doing what's right and what's best for the community, and they're not targeting your community," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. John Gaw said. In San Diego's case, re- cords are kept for up to two years, but other agen- cies keep them five years or more and are limited mainly by server space. "If that information is de- leted or purged too quickly, then we lost that, and we can never go back," said Lt. Karen Stubkjaer of the San Diego Sheriff's Department. In Robertson's case against the San Diego As- sociation of Governments, he was seeking access to a sweeping system that links the San Diego Police De- partment, San Diego County Sheriff's Department and eight other law enforce- ment agencies. The sheriff's department alone has made 9.8 million scans since the system was introduced in 2009, Stubkjaer said. Robertson, who founded and later sold the MP3.com digital musical service, has no problem with officials us- ing the technology for legit- imate purposes like track- ing down stolen cars. But he says license plate read- ers are ripe for abuse, and there's no reason for long- term storage of data on in- nocent people. "I want a strong police force," he said. "But I also want my personal freedom." TECHNOLOGY Li ce ns e pl at e sc an ne r ne tw or ks track millions of U.S. vehicles GREGORYBULL—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A police vehicle driven by San Diego County Deputy Sheriff Ben Chassen reads the license plates of cars in a parking lot on Wednesday in San Marcos. The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO The Uni- versity of California Board of Regents is boosting the six-figure salaries of chan- cellors in the system by as much as 20 percent, part of an effort regents say is aimed at bringing the sala- ries in line with their coun- terparts. The raises, granted at Thursday's board meet- ing, are the first step in a three-year plan to com- pete with top research in- stitutions across the coun- try, the Los Times reported Friday. UC President Janet Na- politano said UC chancel- lors run some of the best schools in the nation, but surveys show they earn about $90,000 a year less than top officials at cam- puses belonging to the re- search-oriented Association of American Universities. "It is my strong belief that we need to pay our chancellors within a com- petitive range," she said. Regents reset the sala- ries of their three lowest paid chancellors — at the Santa Cruz, Merced and Riverside campuses — at $383,160, marking 20 per- cent raises for George Blu- menthal at Santa Cruz and Dorothy Leland at Mer- ced. At the Santa Barbara campus, Chancellor Henry Yang also received a 20 percent raise, to $389,340. The regents also voted to appoint Howard Gill- man permanent chancel- lor of UC Irvine and to pay him $485,000 a year. Gillman, who has been interim chancellor since June, will make $93,000 more than his predeces- sor, who left to run Ohio State University. The raises are also an attempt to adjust a pay structure that regents say has some veteran admin- istrators making substan- tially less than others who were recently hired. Currently, UC's high- est-paid chancellor is Sam Hawgood, who was hired in July at a salary of $750,000 a year at UC San Francisco. UCLA chan- cellor Gene Block makes $428,480. Chancellor salaries have been a sensitive subject with students and other UC employees. "At a time when re- sources are needed to pre- vent tuition hikes and per- form much-needed safety maintenance, huge raises for UC's highest-paid ex- ecutives sends the wrong message about UC's prior- ities to the public we are here to serve," said Todd Stenhouse, a spokesman for the American Federa- tion of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents campus custodians, medical tech- nicians and others. EDUCATION UC c am pu s chancellors get he y pay raises The Associated Press PASADENA A federal ap- peals court says a San Di- ego County school district gave unequal treatment to female athletes. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a lower court ruling that found the Sweetwater Union High School District violated federal gender-equity laws. Girls' softball players from Castle Park High School sued the district in 2007. The players argued that their Chula Vista facilities were inferior to those for male athletes and they had fewer chances to play. They also claimed the firing of their softball coach was re- taliation for complaints. The district previously said it's committed to gen- der equity. SOFTBALL PLAYERS School gender equity ruling upheld in San Diego County The Associated Press SACRAMENTO California's unemployment rate was un- changed for a third month, holding at 7.4 percent in Au- gust, officials said Friday. The state added 44,200 nonfarm jobs during the month, bringing the total to 15.5 million, the Califor- nia Employment Develop- ment Department reported. Last month's gains mean the state has added slightly more than 1.4 million jobs since February 2010, when the jobless number hit a peak of 12.4 percent. The national unemploy- ment rate dropped to 6.1 percent. In California, the con- struction sector posted the largest increase over the month, adding 13,600 jobs. Manufacturing, fi- nancial activities, business services, education, health, leisure and government also added jobs in August. Trade, transportation and utilities, along with information, posted losses totaling 8,300 jobs for the month. THIRD MONTH California unemployment rate stays at 7.4 percent PLEASERECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thankyou! 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