Will County committee postpones approval of license‑plate reader agreements after privacy and policy concerns

Will County’s Transportation/Infrastructure Committee paused action on several intergovernmental agreements that would allow municipalities to operate automated license‑plate reader (ALPR) cameras on county roads, citing unresolved policy and oversight questions.

The discussion on April 15 followed presentations by local law‑enforcement leaders who said ALPR systems have helped solve crimes and locate missing people. Chief Benton told the committee the system captures still images of vehicles and related identifying features but does not capture drivers’ faces or automatically provide owner details; ‘‘The Flock system, it purges at 30 days,’’ he said, describing the vendor’s retention practice. Undersheriff Jungles and Chief Arnold said ALPRs are widely used in Will County and argued the tools speed investigations by connecting vehicle sightings across jurisdictions.

Several board members said those operational descriptions underscored the need for written, enforceable protections. ‘‘What I’m looking at are the policies and procedures around that very powerful tool that will ensure that the general public has a reasonable assumption of being able to practice their life without being surveilled,’’ Member Hickey said. Hickey and other members pressed for contractual language — not only internal or vendor policies — that would be attached to intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) and subject to county review.

Steven Reagan of the ACLU of Illinois urged similar safeguards. ‘‘The ACLU is not opposed to the use of automated license plate readers,’’ he said, but he warned committee members to require meaningful accountability and stronger limits on sharing and searching data. Reagan noted the importance of requiring case numbers or specific, documented reasons for searches so audits can establish whether agencies used the system appropriately.

Members also asked for concrete performance data; a request from Member Balich for exact conviction counts tied to ALPR hits was noted and the chiefs said they could supply such figures on request. Several members emphasized municipal costs would cover camera installation and that the county would not pay for equipment mounted on municipal roads; Chief Arnold confirmed the IGAs before the committee do not shift installation costs to the county.

After about three hours of presentations and questions, Member Oxley moved, and Member Balich seconded, to postpone consideration of IGAs 1–5 to the next meeting and to require the municipalities to include their ALPR policies with the agreements for the committee’s review. A roll‑call vote carried. The committee asked staff to circulate vendor and agency policies and to be available to answer follow‑up questions before the matter returns for a vote.

The committee’s postponement leaves IGAs paused while members review whether contractual language sufficiently memorializes retention limits, audit procedures and explicit prohibitions on uses such as immigration enforcement or reproductive‑health investigations, items speakers said state law already restricts. The committee also requested that any vendor‑level audit reports or written policies be provided in advance of the next meeting.