Law enforcement officials hope to gain immediate access to DOT photos

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• Copy of Assembly Bill 639

For one area lawmaker who is supporting the measure (AB 639), it is about giving law enforcement the tools they need to help prevent them from picking up the wrong person.

The measure Rep. Kitty Rhoades, R-Hudson, is supporting would allow state law enforcement officials to gain immediate access to the driver’s license or identification card photographs the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has in its database.

“This would be a huge asset to law enforcement and to constituents,” said Rhoades.

With the bill, St. Croix County Sheriff Dennis Hillstead says that law enforcement would have immediate online access to DOT’s photographs.

“Probably the biggest hurdle we have in obtaining photos from the DOT is that we have to fill out a request and then either fax or mail it in,” said St. Croix County Sheriff Dennis Hillstead.

The idea for the bill was brought to Rhoades approximately nine months ago by Chief Doug Briggs and Officer Adam Wojiehowski, both of the Somerset police department.

“Officer Wojiehowski originated the idea,” said Briggs.

Briggs said that Minnesota has a similar law in place, and that was where Wojiehowski got his inspiration from.

“With the Minnesota system, we could immediately look up and see that the person who was giving us information was not the person who they said they were,” Briggs said.

He added the main reason they thought the bill was desirable was to protect someone’s identification.

“That’s really important to police with all of the identity theft going around,” Briggs said.

Hillstead also believes the immediate access to photographs would really assist in investigations.

“If we have a crime committed, just to be able to show that picture to an eyewitness would really help us, especially to eliminate people,” Hillstead said.

Other area lawmakers supporting the bipartisan measure are Sen. Shelia Harsdorf, R-River Falls, and former Polk County Sheriff, Rep. Ann Hraychuck, D-Balsam Lake.

“It was very helpful for us to get things from the Minnesota Department of Transportation,” Hraychuck said.

She added that not only would the immediate photograph access help in criminal investigations, but would also help identify victims of traffic accidents.

The bill not only requires DOT to share the photographs with state law enforcement agencies, but with federal authorities and agencies from other states.

Hraychuck said she hopes the bill will pass, but that it might meet some resistance.

“There are some legislators who are concerned about privacy,” she said.

The bill provides for the same level of privacy protection as does current law, and requested photographs would have to be destroyed when they are no longer needed for the purpose they were requested.

Brady Bautch can be contacted at internet@rivertowns.net.

Tags: dot, lawenforcement, wisconsinnews