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'Mystery' cameras along North Country highways part of Border Task Force initiative to catch smugglers, aliens

Posted 6/1/12

By CRAIG FREILICH Most of the “mystery” license-plate reading cameras that appeared recently on utility poles along major North Country highways were installed by law enforcement searching for …

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'Mystery' cameras along North Country highways part of Border Task Force initiative to catch smugglers, aliens

Posted

By CRAIG FREILICH

Most of the “mystery” license-plate reading cameras that appeared recently on utility poles along major North Country highways were installed by law enforcement searching for drug runners and aliens.

Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne says the Franklin County Border Narcotics Taskforce is attempting to better coordinate information and investigations into where border violations occur –whether they are related to drugs, aliens, or other illegal cross-border activity – and where the perpetrators and their cargo end up.

Through a grant from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, the license plate readers and software are being placed along likely routes.

Champagne said much of that activity seems to occur along the Franklin County border with Quebec, next to Ontario, and with Mohawk reserves on both sides of the St. Lawrence River. Drug smugglers might be coming into Franklin County, “but they can turn right and go into St. Lawrence County, or turn left and head for Clinton County,” Champagne said.

Curiosity was raised this week by people who saw the camera boxes on poles in several places around the county, including Norwood, Raymondville, DeKalb Junction, Waddington, Massena and Canton, and wondered what they were for.

That curiosity was piqued when inquiries into the purpose of the cameras and who was running them went unanswered. Local and state law enforcement denied any knowledge of the cameras, or if they did know about them, they wouldn’t explain what they knew. That raised questions about what seemed to be a desire for secrecy, particularly in light of the fact that it is hard to keep a secret when you hang it from a pole along a major road.

After denials by local law enforcement and the tight-lipped nature of federal authorities, speculation turned to notions that U.S. Customs and Border Protection or some other federal agency was at work.

And that was not completely misplaced: one camera box found on a Massena Electric Department pole was taken down and handed over to Massena police, since whoever placed it had no authorization from MED to put it there. Champagne said that that camera, at least, “was not part of this project and was installed by a separate federal agency on a separate investigative matter.”

DA Champagne said that the cameras are part of a program to improve data collection and communication, since “there was no focused effort at matching seizures of narcotics, aliens and other contraband found across the North Country.

“Recent estimates have placed the yearly smuggling of narcotics through the New York Northern Border at approximately one billion dollars per year, yet due to the seven unmanned roads crossing the border in Franklin County, exact calculations and verification have been exceedingly difficult,” Champagne said in a statement released today.

“The deployment of the recent LPR's is an effort at matching up seizures across the state with the Northern Border or potentially determining that these drugs and aliens are not coming from Clinton, Franklin or St. Lawrence Counties.

“Under the grant, vehicles and seizures seized across New York State and other States of drugs or contraband alleged to be connected to the Northern Border can quickly be checked against LPR data from the North Country,” Champagne said.

“It is hoped that this project can assist determining exactly what kind of border related crime is actually occurring and then assist law enforcement in obtaining resources if the figures are as high as estimated.”

“Local traffic is not the focus of this project however the traffic numbers will be made available to DOT should they require any information for traffic counting, road work or related highway projects,” Champagne said. “These devices will only be deployed on public highways and right of ways under this project.”

That explanation will not satisfy everyone. At the same time that stronger law enforcement measures are called for by many people, to combat what they see as growing threats from drugs, aliens, and terrorists, other people fear that increasing police activity, especially of a “secret” kind, is subverting the founding principles of the United States.

When the state grant expires, Champagne said, “the devices will be turned over to our Taskforce and we will either enter into agreements with local law enforcement to leave the LPR'S stationary or move them to other requested locations. Several local burglaries have recently been solved as a result of the LPR data, but the primary focus remains border and interstate cases,” the Franklin County DA said.