[kevingadd]

Why would license plate cameras deter armed robberies? Aren't there other things that would be more effective? PA's police department doesn't seem to be lacking for funding, its budget has increased over time instead of being cut. Have the police been responding to callers with "sorry, we can't come take a report for your armed robbery because we're manually writing down license plate numbers"?

At best license plate cameras seem like they might deter bad driving if they make it easier to issue citations to bad drivers. I cannot imagine how they would meaningfully impact armed robberies or other violent crime. It's just more surveillance that in practice probably increases police dept income (via tickets). Maybe it slightly reduces the time police officers spend in courtrooms or writing up tickets, leaving them more time to respond to calls?

Don't let yourself get tricked into rubber stamping warrantless surveillance just because you want to be safer in some other area.

[robopsychology]

Because most of the recent crimes where the robbers were caught drove into PA from Oakland or EPA or wherever and some of those were caught by license plate cameras just further afield. I wonder if one of the reasons Midtown is picked is because it's close to the 101 and because of the lack of security cameras. If people wanted to target wealthy people they'd be better suited looking towards Atherton or Woodside or something.

[nradov]

The primary effect of ALPRs in other cities has been to identify stolen cars as well as those registered to owners with open warrants. They aren't typically used for traffic enforcement.