Police Leaders Implement New Safeguards for License Plate Reader Technology

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 20, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Police leaders from 21 agencies have described new safeguards they are implementing for automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology, according to a report released by the National Policing Institute (NPI). These measures, which include some practices beyond what the public initially asked for, reflect a shift in how law enforcement agencies are adopting new technologies, particularly in light of recent backlash against ALPRs.

The report, which drew on two NPI virtual convenings held in September 2026, highlights that leaders are now building their own safeguards for every new technology. They are engaging the community earlier and setting rules and auditing procedures before launching new projects. Some agencies have delayed new initiatives and are considering statewide standards over a patchwork of local rules.

Leaders from these agencies stated that they are adopting safeguards that go beyond what the public initially asked for. For instance, one agency has reduced the number of users who can search ALPR data by nearly two-thirds. Others have removed search access from senior command staff and from the people who conduct audits. They require a written statement of facts for each search rather than a drop-down code, audit hot lists daily, and treat misuse as a crime where state law allows. Some agencies have also ended data sharing with federal immigration enforcement agencies, written data ownership and resale bans into vendor contracts, and posted contracts and sharing agreements in one public place.

The report also notes that leaders are shortening data retention periods, with most saying 21 to 30 days meets investigative needs. They resisted proposals for seven-day or 48-hour retention periods, which they believed would close off many property crime cases. Middle-ground options, such as a short default period with older data searchable only with supervisor approval or a warrant, are being considered. Most survey respondents (53.2%) favor 30 days or less for data retention.

Despite these safeguards, leaders acknowledge that they cannot yet show what the technology delivers. Most agencies report plates read, searches run, and hits received, but not whether a read produced a lead or solved a case. Leaders say critics have used these activity counts against them, and that when programs end, no one can measure what was gained. They also admit that they waited too long to respond publicly, allowing inaccurate claims to fill the gap.

The report suggests that license plate readers are the first technology to face this kind of intense and rapid public test, but they won't be the last. Leaders are now setting the rules before procurement, building verification the public will trust, and planning to measure value from day one. For agencies whose programs have ended, the report lays out a path back and provides question checklists for chiefs, sheriffs, and elected officials planning to launch, expand, or restart a technology program.

The National Policing Institute recommends that agencies set the rules before procurement, build verification the public will trust, and plan to measure value from day one. They also offer a new service, ADAPT, which provides an independent review of the whole ALPR program, examining how a program is authorized, how its data are kept, secured, and shared, who can search them, how the system is used compared with policy, and how the program is audited and reported to the public. NPI can then help agencies build the policies, audit procedures, and public reporting the review recommends.

The findings of the report suggest that while 54.4% of survey respondents oppose ALPR use in their community, 60.4% would accept an agency keeping its program, most with new restrictions. This aligns with the views of 14 of 16 demographic and political groups, which chose the same top safeguards. The field is closer to the public than the current debate suggests, and the work now is to make those safeguards visible and verifiable, and to measure what the technology delivers. Agencies that do this work before launch will be in a stronger position to keep the tools they have and to effectively introduce the tech that comes next.