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How Decatur Uses License Plate Readers to Support Public Safety

The Decatur Police Department uses 44 automated license plate readers as an investigative tool, with limited data retention, trained users, and built-in oversight.

The City of Decatur uses automated license plate readers to help police locate stolen vehicles and missing people, identify vehicles connected to active warrants, and investigate serious crimes.

The Decatur Police Department currently operates 44 cameras manufactured by Flock Safety. The cameras capture vehicle information visible from public roadways.

“Public safety and public trust must go hand in hand,” Mayor Kent Lawrence said. “These cameras give our officers another tool to locate stolen vehicles, find missing people, and investigate serious crimes. Just as important, their use must remain limited, accountable, and transparent.”

What the cameras collect

The cameras capture information about vehicles that pass through their field of view, including:

• License plate text
• The date, time, and location of the vehicle
• Basic vehicle characteristics, including make, model, and color

The cameras do not use facial recognition, collect cellphone data, or automatically identify a vehicle’s driver or registered owner.

An officer must take additional steps through authorized law enforcement databases to identify a registered owner. Separate state and federal rules govern those searches.

How alerts work

The system can notify authorized law enforcement users when it detects a license plate connected to certain public-safety alerts. Examples include stolen vehicles, missing-person cases, Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts, and active felony warrants.

An alert does not prove that a crime has occurred. It provides officers with an investigative lead.

Dispatchers and officers must verify the license plate, vehicle description, and underlying law enforcement record before taking action.

License plates can sometimes be misread, and outside law enforcement databases may contain outdated information. For example, a recovered stolen vehicle may remain listed as stolen if the reporting agency has not updated the record.

Human review and verification remain essential.

Limited retention and authorized access

Vehicle information collected by Decatur’s cameras is retained for 30 days. The system then deletes the information.

Access is limited to trained law enforcement personnel. The Decatur Police Department currently has 41 authorized users and five administrative users who provide oversight.

Officers must complete training before receiving access. Every user action is logged and available for administrative review through the system’s built-in auditing software.

“Technology does not replace an officer’s judgment, training, or responsibility,” Lawrence said. “It should support good police work, not replace the safeguards that protect the public.”

Information sharing

Decatur may share access with other authorized law enforcement agencies for legitimate investigative purposes. Private residents and members of the public cannot access Decatur Police Department cameras or search the department’s information.

Activity within the system remains logged and reviewable.

Addressing privacy concerns

City leaders understand that residents may have questions about privacy, government technology, and the collection of vehicle information.

Decatur operates its license plate reader program under Alabama law, state regulations, and department policy. Those rules govern how license plate recognition systems may be used and managed.

The cameras are positioned to capture vehicles traveling on public roadways. The department limits access to trained personnel, retains information for 30 days, and maintains records of user activity.

“These questions deserve clear answers,” Lawrence said. “We will continue to review how the system is used, maintain strong oversight, and make sure our public-safety tools serve the people of Decatur responsibly.”

At a glance

Number of Decatur cameras: 44

Data retention: 30 days

Authorized users: 41

Administrative users: Five

Facial recognition: No

Cellphone data collection: No

Automatic driver identification: No

User activity recorded: Yes

Human verification required: Yes

Automated license plate readers are one of several investigative tools used by the Decatur Police Department. They do not determine guilt or replace an officer’s investigation and judgment.

The cameras provide timely vehicle information that may help officers respond to serious public-safety situations. Their use remains subject to defined rules, limited retention, human verification, and administrative oversight.

In Decatur, We Are Better Together.