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Audit presentation: police official defends ALPR use, says data kept 30 days; audit flags RIPA data-entry lapses
Summary
An agency official briefed the council on the department’s automated license-plate readers, saying the system captures plate images and timestamps (not faces), retains data for 30 days, and has guardrails against out-of-state and federal sharing; the audit also found some officers failed to enter required profiling data and staff proposed increased audits and corrective steps.
An agency official (Speaker 8) gave an audit-oriented briefing on the police department’s automated license-plate-reader (ALPR) program and related internal controls. The presenter said the town’s ALPR network includes roughly 60 cameras that capture vehicle images and convert them to searchable plate-and-timestamp data, and stressed the system does not perform facial recognition.
“We only store it for 30 days,” the presenter said, describing the retention policy and noting that vendor and statute-driven guardrails limit broader sharing. The official described routine uses of the system for locating stolen vehicles, hit-and-run investigations and missing-persons alerts, including an example in which ALPR data aided an elder-missing ("gray alert") response that led to locating the person outside the county.
Council members asked detailed questions about access and sharing. The presenter said the system was intentionally configured to prevent out-of-state sharing and federal access under state rules (referencing recent state-level changes such as Senate Bill 34), and noted a public-records process for some requests. The presenter added that the vendor and local implementation include audits, and the department uses periodic inspections to detect misuse.
The audit also examined RIPA (racial and identity profiling) reporting. The presenter said the audit found several officers had not consistently entered required demographic information after stops, which undermines the completeness of RIPA reporting. Staff described corrective measures — ranging from counseling and written reprimands for officers to expanded monthly/quarterly checks — and said the department will increase auditing and oversight to improve compliance.
Council members pressed on storage duration, cross-agency access and the balance between public safety benefits and privacy safeguards. Staff said they would continue to report on audit outcomes and any system changes that affect access, retention or oversight.
