According to a slate.com article, police departments across the nation are investing in automatic license plate readers (ALPR). These readers are designed to (1) photograph license plates of cars in motion, (2) process the license plate information automatically, and (3) send the results to a database. This information is helpful for tracking stolen vehicles, among other things.
A 2012 Police Executive Research Forum report states that 85% of police departments nationwide are planning to acquire or increase the usage of ALPR equipment in the next five years.
The American Civil Liberties Union is (1) concerned about the retention of these databases and (2) fearful that the databases can be used as a warrantless tracking system.
For more information on ALPRs, see OLR Report 2012-R-0482.
