6 days ago
Around 20% of license plate reader database searches did not have case numbers
AUSTIN (KXAN) – According to an email from APD sent to city of Austin staff, as many as 22% of automated license plate reader (ALPR) database searches did not have a case number linked to the query.
Ahead of Tuesday's Austin City Council work session, where ALPRs would be discussed, city staff asked APD via email for more information about the technology. That email was shared with KXAN.
Many have been critical of the technology, concerned that data could be shared with law enforcement agencies that target women seeking abortions or undocumented immigrants. APD said on Tuesday that the department does not intend to use ALPRs for those reasons.
'The Austin Police Department recognizes the importance of transparency in the usage of the ALPR system. With this in mind, the Austin Police Department is working with the vendor to mandate that the user input a case number prior to [a] search as well as a reason for the search that is in line with the resolution,' APD wrote in the email to city staff.
APD said that when the ALPR pilot program went live in March 2024, the resolution did not explicitly require officers to provide a reason for a database search. However, it acknowledged that the department was only permitted to use the technology to help with investigations.
APD told city staff that in the second quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, around one in five searches did not have a case number listed. In quarter three of 2024, only 11% of searches did not have an identified case number, and in quarter four, 16% did not have one.
Austin's year-long pilot program began in March 2024, and on March 27, the Austin City Council voted 8-3 to extend the program for another three months. The city council will decide on Thursday whether to extend the program again.
During the work session, APD explained to the Austin City Council why it finds the technology beneficial.
'This police department is 300 officers short. Currently, we do not have enough officers to [perform] the job that we would prefer to do without the use of technology to supplement [our] work,' said Assistant Austin Police Chief Sheldon Askew.
'We're just better [and] more successful when we have technology such as ALPR,' he continued.
The pilot required that the system only hold data captured by the cameras for seven days, down from 30 days. APD officers must train before being able to access the system. Officers must undergo training annually.
APD said on Tuesday that data collected by the cameras belongs only to the department and that it is not shared with any other agency.
'There are some agencies throughout the country [that] will share that data with their partner agencies or with agencies across the nation. We do not do that,' Askew said.
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