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Pasco council hears police on expanded license‑plate readers as new state rules tighten oversight
Summary
Pasco Police presented data and use-cases for its automatic license plate reader (ALPR) system and outlined steps to comply with recent state legislation limiting uses and retention. Councilors pressed on privacy safeguards, cross-jurisdiction sharing, and operational costs; no public comment was offered at the workshop.
Chief Ken Roski told the Pasco City Council that the department’s modern automatic license plate reader system has been in use since 2019 and that the tool "takes a snapshot of a vehicle in time" and "doesn't use facial recognition." Roski said ALPR has helped identify stolen vehicles, locate suspects and locate missing people, while noting the system produces many non‑hit reads that require analysts to prioritize true leads.
Brianna Murray, the city’s lobbyist in Olympia, summarized recent state action and said a bill passed this session will impose new reporting, retention and permitted‑use limits on ALPR data. Roski explained how the bill shortens typical retention from 30 to 21 days, requires registration with the attorney general and creates new audit and reporting obligations.
Council members asked for clarity on operational details: where the 28 stationary readers are sited, how many mobile units are available, and how "hits" translate into actionable enforcement. When a councilor asked whether the department tracks hits that lead to arrests, Roski pointed to an operational slide showing that, historically, a large share of stationary ALPR incidents have resulted in arrests and recoveries, and that the city saw “33 stolen vehicles recovered, 20 arrests” and assistance on multiple homicide and armed‑robbery investigations.
Roski acknowledged concerns prompted by press coverage and by emails to the council. He noted a specific limit in the enacted bill that makes out‑of‑state comparisons difficult: "with the new bill, likelihood that we wouldn't have found them because we can't share outside of Washington State," he said, describing a recent missing‑person case in which interstate data sharing aided the search. Staff said they will work with state legislators to flag that operational pain point in future sessions.
On compliance, Roski said the department is preparing a draft ALPR policy, will register the system with the attorney general and expects to align internal auditing and training with the statute’s requirements. He warned the council the law includes criminal penalties for misuse by employees, which will be an additional compliance concern.
The presentation closed with a pledge to return with policy language and a commitment to coordinate with city staff on any needed procedural changes. The workshop did not include a formal council vote or direction beyond that follow‑up commitment.
