Hayden's elected leaders said they had no plans to introduce Automatic License Plate Recognition Cameras, or ALPRs.

Tonight, the City Council will again consider the future of ALPRs within city limits. The city currently does not have a policy regarding ALPRs, and this vote gives the city the chance to move forward with formally implementing one, according to Councilman Matt Roetter.

“Right now, I'm against the government having more about us, our routines, where we go, what kind of cars we drive,” Roetter said Monday. “The less the government knows about each individual person, the better. That's my generalized position.”

According to a city memo on the issue, "If the Council wishes to proceed, staff recommends the following sequence: (1) Council work session to select positions on the highest‐stakes items — retention period, network participation, misdemeanor use, and the sunset mechanism; (2) concurrent discussion with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office regarding operational feasibility and the services] agreement; (3) confirmation of vendor configurability against the selected positions; and (4) adoption of the policy by resolution, together with any services agreement amendment."

Councilman Ed DePriest said there is some pressure from the community to go along with other cities who are implementing policies on whether to utilize ALPRs or not. Whether a policy is implemented or not, he said ALPRs have the potential to help law enforcement.

“I think they can do a lot of good if they catch criminals and kidnappers and things like that,” DePriest said. “There's far more potential for positive crime fighting than the negatives. They're useful, and I think it's unfortunate that there's this negative concern about them.”

The Hayden City Council meeting is scheduled at 5 p.m. at City Hall.