The ALPR's (Automated License Plate Readers) are taking a snap shot of your license plate every time you pass one of these readers. I have no way of knowing how many of these plate readers are deployed, but the last number of plate readers that didn't work were here for 10 years was 12.The equipment was purchased without oversight as anything FPD buys with law enforcement trust funds does not need local legislative approval. But the policy that dictates their use in Framingham should be approved by our city council, in my opinion. I understand the usefulness of these to law enforcement, especially after a crime has been committed using a vehicle of some sort. But to keep track of everyone's travel is an invasion of our rights to freely travel wherever we like without police tracking our every move. The company that sold us the equipment ensures us that there are protocols built in to the storage and retrieval of license plates recordings on their servers. The records are kept for 30 days, unless FPD wants to save some for future investigative purpose. Supposedly, all FPD personal will be trained and how to use the system and entry to the data will be pass word driven. Knowing how well FPD kept track of the keys to the evidence room years ago, I'm skeptical that the system will not be abused or even hacked. I'm posting the policy so everyone can read what the guidelines are from the policy not yet approved by the council or perhaps they won't be. Here's the latest policy (my highlighted) which is not on the web site:
FRAMINGHAM
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Next Review Date: Annually
Subject:
Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) Effective Date:
09/01/2022
Category:
General Management
Expiration
Date: Indefinite
MASSACHUSETTS
POLICE ACCREDITATION STANDARDS
REFERENCED:
41.3.9 POLICY
100-40
Distribution:
Police
Department
Issuing
Authority
Lester Baker
Lester
Baker, Chief
of Police
GENERAL
CONSIDERATIONS AND GUIDELINES
I. PURPOSE
The purpose
of this Policy is to establish guidelines and procedures for the proper use and
application of automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) systems, the
management of the data, and the maintenance of the equipment.
II. POLICY
The
availability and use of ALPR systems have provided many opportunities for the enhancement
of law enforcement agencies' productivity, effectiveness, and
protection of public and officer safety. It is the policy of this Department to
only utilize the technology in
furtherance
of official and legitimate law enforcement operations and public safety. All members
of this Department are expected to abide by the guidelines set forth herein
when using ALPR systems.
III. ACRONYMS
AND DEFINITIONS
Alert: A
visual and/or auditory notice that is triggered when the ALPR system receives a
potential hit on a license plate.
Alert data:
Information captured by an ALPR relating to a license plate that matches the license
plate on a hot list.
ALPR:
Automatic License Plate Recognition. Automatic license plate recognition
technology uses high-speed cameras combined with sophisticated computer
algorithms capable of converting the images of license plates to electronically
readable data. The ALPR system captures an image of a license plate and
converts it to a text file using Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
technology. The technology also compares the digital images of license plates
to the CJIS-NCIC Hot file database.
ALPR data:
Scan files, alert data generated by, or obtained thorough, utilization of the
ALPR system.
ALPR Data
Query Logs: A record of a search or query of ALPR data.
ALPR System:
The ALPR camera and all associated equipment and databases.
Department:
Framingham Police Department.
Fixed ALPR
system: ALPR cameras that are permanently affixed to a structure, such as a pole,
a traffic barrier, or a bridge.
GPS: Global
positioning system.
Hit: An
alert that a license plate matches a record maintained in the ALPR database
related to stolen vehicles, wanted vehicles, or other alert type files that
support investigation or which have been manually registered by a user for
further investigation.
Hot list:
License plate numbers of vehicles of interest, such as stolen vehicles,
vehicles owned by persons of interest, and vehicles associated with AMBER
Alerts. Be on Look Out (BOLO), Attempt to Locate (ATL), and Wanted or Missing
Person broadcasts or bulletins in which a license plate number is included, or
other license plate numbers of interest entered by the Department or an
authorized officer.
Mobile ALPR
system: ALPR cameras that are affixed to a law enforcement vehicle for mobile deployment.
Portable
ALPR system: ALPR cameras that are transportable and can be moved and deployed
in a variety of venues as needed, such as a traffic barrel or speed radar sign.
IV.
PROCEDURES
A. General
ALPR systems
and associated equipment and databases are the property of Flock Safety and authorized
for official department use only. Misuse of this equipment and associated databases
or data may be subject to sanctions and or disciplinary actions, as determined
by the rules, regulations and policy of the Department.
B.
Administration
I. The
Department shall designate the Commander of Bureau of Investigations or his/her designee with
administrative oversight as the ALPR Administrator for the ALPR system deployment,
operations, and maintenance. The ALPR Administrator shall be responsible for the
following:
(a)
Establishing protocols for access, collection, storage, and retention of ALPR
data and associated media files. The data is stored by Flock Safety for 30 days
unless downloaded for investigative purposes;
(b) Utilize
protocols to preserve and document ALPR reads and “alerts” or “hits” that are acted
on in the field or associated with investigations or prosecutions;
(c) Utilize
protocols to establish and ensure the security and integrity of data captured, stored,
and/or retained by the ALPR system;
(d) Ensuring
the proper selection of the personnel approved to operate the ALPR system and maintaining
an adequate number of trained and authorized users;
(e)
Maintaining records identifying approved ALPR deployments and documenting their
results, including appropriate documentation of significant incidents and
arrests that are related to ALPR usage:
(f)
Authorizing any requests for ALPR systems use or data access according to the
policies and guidelines of this agency;
(g) Managing
and securing the downloaded data, including requests for searches of the ALPR
data, hot lists.
(h) Flock
Safety will ensure that designated, trained personnel check equipment on a
regular basis to ensure functionality and camera alignment and removing from
service any equipment that falls outside expected functionality until
deficiencies have been corrected.
(i) Ensuring users are not using
ALPR for personal reasons or to harass or intimidate.
(j) Ensuring
plates are only read while in the public view.
(k) Ensuring
the system or associated scan files are not used solely because of a person or group’s
class, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation,
nationality, ethnicity, disability or other classification protected by law.
2. ALPR
systems repairs shall be made by Flock Safety.
C Automatic
License Plate Recognition System Usage
I. ALPR
systems and information shall be accessed and used only for official and
legitimate law enforcement operations and public safety related purposes, and
may only be used based on specific and articulable facts of a concern for
safety, wrongdoing, criminal investigation, or pursuant to a court order.
2. Searches
of historical ALPR data shall be done in accordance with established departmental
policies and procedures.
3. Only users who have been
designated by the ALPR Administrator and properly trained in the use and
operational protocols of the ALPR system shall be permitted to use the system.
Only those users with an approved login and
password will be allowed access to the ALPR system.
4. The
agency ALPR Administrator shall ensure that any changes in hardware, software, policy
that would impact the end user will be communicated to the department.
5. The use
of ALPR technology must be approved by the agency head or designee.
6. When an
enforcement action, investigation, or prosecution results from an ALPR hit, the
hit will be preserved per department policy.
7. ALPR hot
lists and data gathered by departmental ALPRs will be maintained securely.
8. Requests
for searches of ALPR data to the ALPR Administrator may be made by members of
this Department or by other law enforcement agencies subject to the provisions
of this
Policy.
41.3.9 A
D.
Operational Procedures and Responsibilities
1. Any
observed damage or misalignment or malfunction of the ALPR camera systems should
be reported immediately to a supervisor. Damage in the field to a camera system
should be documented and referred to the department administrator.
2.
Department users should update hotlist as necessary. 41.3.9 B
E. Manual
Entry of Data
I. Users may
become aware of additional potential license plate numbers of interest and may
request those license plate numbers be entered into the Department hot list. License plates may be entered
only when directed or authorized by a shift supervisor or Detective
Lieutenant or his/her designee and only for
official and legitimate law enforcement or public safety operations.
2. A second party check must be
conducted on all manual entries.
3. Manual
entries may include, but should not be limited to, an AMBER Alert, Missing Person,
Be on Look Out (BOLO), Attempt to Locate (ATL), or Wanted or Missing Person broadcast
or bulletin in which a license plate number is included. Such manual entries
must be manually updated when the information changes or is no longer current.
4. Whenever
a plate is manually entered into the ALPR system, the officer shall document the
reason. 41.3.9 D
F. ALPR
Alerts/Hits
Prior to
initiation of a stop based on a hit or alert:
a) Users
shall visually verify that the vehicle plate number matches the plate number
run by the ALPR system, including both alphanumeric characters of the license
plate and the state of issuance.
(b) Users
shall verify the current status of the plate through the Commonwealths Criminal
Justice Information System (CJIS), National Crime Information Center (NCIC),
Departments Records Management System (RMS), or other appropriate source of
data prior to a stop when circumstances allow or as soon as practicable.
V.
Information Management/Security
A. ALPR Data
Query Logs
I. An
automated log will be maintained for each transaction that will include the
name of the individual accessing the data, along with the date and time of access.
2. Requests
to review stored ALPR data and search results will be recorded and maintained.
3. ALPR Data
Query Logs shall be maintained and secured.
4. Audits
shall be conducted periodically at the discretion of the Chief of Police.
B. ALPR Data
Sharing and Dissemination
l. ALPR data
can be accessed, retrieved, or shared for official and legitimate law enforcement
operations or public safety purposes only.
2.
Dissemination of ALPR data outside the Department shall be documented in a
secondary dissemination log, as determined by the rules and regulations of the
Department.
3.
Information sharing among law enforcement agencies, other than the DCJIS, should
be governed by departmental policies or memoranda of understanding.
4.
Information gathered or collected, and records retained by Flock cameras or any
other FPD ALPR system will not be sold, accessed, or used for any purpose other
than legitimate law enforcement or public safety purposes. 41.3.9 E, F
C. Retention
The ALPR
administrator is responsible for ensuring systems and processes are in place
for the proper collection and retention of ALPR data. All ALPR data downloaded
should be stored in accordance with the established records retention schedule.
Flock will
purge their data at the end of the 30 days of storage. However, this will not
preclude FPD from maintaining any relevant data obtained from the system after
that period pursuant to the established state retention schedule mentioned above
or outlined elsewhere. 41.3.9 G
D. Training
User
training is through a Flock tutorial link which is made available through the administrator,
Flock and can be found on “S drive”. User and administrative training can also be
requested through Flock. Department Administrator will receive initial administrative
training through a Flock representative. 41.3.9 C
https://www.flocksafety.com
