Police to install more license plate readers

10 new automatic devices set to be placed throughout the city

The city police department is adding 10 automatic license plate readers throughout the city. Unlike typical license plate readers that are attached to police cars, these devices will be stationary.

Spokesman Steve Smith declined to say where the cameras would be located, but said they’ll be an additional tool in combating crime in the city.

“We’re adding to some of our existing technologies,” he said. “We’ve made several investments recently in technology for fighting crime.”

The department will pay $12,000 to Rekor Systems from a state Gun Involved Violence Elimination grant for the monitoring system that operates the cameras.

The city’s cameras will not be actively monitored, but will send alerts to officers if they pick up a license plate the department is searching for.

The exact date the cameras will be installed and active is unclear.

License plate readers automatically scan the plates of cars that pass within their view, checking them against databases of stolen vehicles, car owners with warrants for their arrest, and suspended or revoked registrations. Departments can also search databases of known gang members or other violent individuals. The cameras capture the license plate number of a car as well as its date, time and location.

Police officers can also enter the plate number of a car they’re searching for and will get alerts when a camera catches sight of that car.

The department already has license plate readers installed on some squad cars. The data can be uploaded to the Albany Crime Analysis Center, which shares data with other police departments in the area.

The cameras can also support Amber and Silver alerts, which tell the public about missing or endangered children or adults, respectively.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other privacy groups have repeatedly raised concerns about automatic license plate readers, arguing that it sweeps up the data of innocent drivers and essentially creates a roadmap of their daily activities. But courts have repeatedly upheld

police departments’ ability to use the cameras.

The city police department keeps five years’ worth of license plate data on file, according to the policy overseeing its use.

The system that Albany will use are similar to the system that Rotterdam put in place in 2019 on its existing traffic and surveillance cameras.