New DPS ID system has some Detroit parents concerned about privacy issues

1-17-2011 Michigan:

Local parents and civil liberties proponents are asking whether a new Detroit schools ID system designed to keep sex offenders out of schools is too intrusive.

According to a report in community newspaper the Michigan Citizen, some parents are fearful that their names will be run through law-enforcement databases for reasons other than a sex-offender search. As a result, the ACLU of Michigan is looking at the issue.

Jan. 14, The Michigan Citizen: The local American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the district on the issue.

“We’ve been contacted by concerned community members ... we have some concerns but it’s important to know exactly what’s happening in the school district before we move forward,” said Rana Elmir, Communications Director of the ACLU Michigan.

The concern of some seems to be that the system will open parents up to prosecution for other infractions. The Citizen says that some parents already have been contacted about issues such as child support and traffic tickets, although there's no reported evidence that these run-ins result from the parents' use of the ID system.

Meanwhile, according to school officials, the system is doing what it is intended to do and has already prevented at least one registered sex offender from entering Martin Luther King High School. That much I can appreciate, although I still think the district has a spotty history when it comes to balancing safety and Constitutional rights.

Of course, there are many who'd probably argue that the system is fine even if it did reach beyond registered sex offenders, the logic being that if you don't have tickets, outstanding warrants or other legal problems you shouldn't worry.

But I think that people are entitled to a measure of privacy that doesn't restrict the school district's ability to safeguard the students from predators. I also would hate to see parents discouraged from showing up at city schools because they're worried about getting arrested an outstanding traffic warrant.

Since I don't know much about the ID system beyond the surface reporting, there's no way to determine for sure how far the database reaches or who accesses it and why. But I know that law enforcement agencies have plenty of other ways to find traffic scofflaws.

I also don't see how an overdue ticket -- or even delinquent child support payments -- should be that much of a concern to the public school system. ..Source..