Predicting public support for the use of license plate recognition technology by police |
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Authors: | Linda M. Merola Cynthia Lum |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.lmerola@gmu.edu;3. Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA. |
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Abstract: | The use of license plate recognition technology (LPR) by police is becoming increasingly common. LPR may be used for many purposes, ranging from stolen vehicle enforcement to more complex surveillance and predictive functions. Existing research does not examine community support for this technology, despite its potential to impact police legitimacy. Results from the first community LPR survey are presented and multinomial logistic regression models of citizen support for the technology are developed. Regression results suggest that a number of factors significantly predict citizen support for LPR use, including increased trust in police and the belief that LPR information is public information. |
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Keywords: | license plate recognition LPR surveillance technology police legitimacy privacy |
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